II
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Author Index
AgrawaL S.
Seven Days in Bombay
...
289
Rashtrabhasha Adbyapan Mandir, Wardha
99
An American s Questions
...
298
Aiyamuthu, C. A.
More about the Resolution
...
300
Cbarkha v. Takli
...
138
Occasional Notes
...
309
Amrit Kaur (A. K. )
‘Come Thou in a Shower of Compassion’
314
The Basic Education Court
75
An Acceptable Sacrifice
325
Harijan Work in Indore
77
The Liberty We Want
• « •
326
A Humble Tribute
• ■ •
87
War Resisters
...
331
A Chinese Visitor
87
Desai, V. G.
An Important Interview
• ••
105
A Bengal Grievance
...
16
A Hideous Evil
...
135
The Beneficent Bee
...
152
“ For He Had Great Possessions ”
■ • •
206
Gandhi, K. C.
Village Reconstruction in the South
• ••
259
One Aspect of the Cloth Industry
...
288
Handicrafts in America
...
275
Gandhi. M. K.
Ahimsa, India’s Heritage
...
279
The Old Game?
1
A Praiseworthy Endeavour
...
286
Is It War?
4
A Righteous Fast
...
324
Banging the Door
4
Untouchability in Kotah
...
332
India without the British
5
Anonymous and Unsigned
A Curious Situation
5
India and the War
...
32
Adulteration of Ghee
5
Candid Comments
...
51
Question Box 7, 9, 24, 29,
41, 49, *73
89,
Gandhiji Absolved
182
93, 101, 109, 123, 129, 137, 145,
159. 161.
176.
Working Committee and the Wasiris
204
183, 193, 215, 217, 234, 253,
268. 276. 283
Andrews Memorial Fund
...
267
Communal Decision
9
“ A Seeker’s " Question
280
What Is Woman’s Role ?
12
A. I. C. C. Resolution
...
296
The Right Step
20
Andrews Memorial Fund
...
326
What I Saw in Santiniketan
21
Working Committee’s Statement
...
332
My Advice to Noakhali Hindus
21
Ashadevi
Segaon Becomes Sevagram
28
Basic Education
• ••
130
When the British Withdraw
28
Bardoloi, G. N.
Clear Injustice
28
Planters’ Paradise
162
Skimmed Milk
28
Bhave, Vinoba
When?
32
Old Mind v. Old Age
...
287
What Resolution Means
33
Desai, Mahadev (M. D.)
For Englishmen
« • •
44
Occasional Notes 2, 10, 47, 54, 133,
147, 194
Jaiprakash Narayan
• » ■
48
Rediscovering Religion — II
6
‘ Khadi Banks ’
48
Gandhi Seva Sangh I-III 17, 25, 42
Women and Voluntary Endeavour
...
50
Ramgarh
57
Another Englishman’s Letter
52
The Deenabandhu
81
A Very Useful Publication
...
53
The Hand of the Devil?
112
The London Assassination
...
56
Example Better than Precept
113
The National Week
56
Our Castes
122
An Insane Act
56
Unworthy of Wardha!
127
Every Congress Committee a
A Feast for the Eyes
139
Satyagraha Committee
...
64
God-speed
141
My Answer to Qaid-e-Azam
65
Commendable
*«•
143
A Chief Judge Descends
68
“Sandhya Meditations”
158
The Two Speeches
. ••
69
A Correction
166
How to Evoke the Best
72
The Eclipse of Faith I-II
167, 174
A Baffling Situation
76
The Only Cure
177
A True Friend of the Poor
84
What Led to the Decision
...
196
Andrews’ Legacy
84
Mysore Lawyers (A Note)
205
How Not to Do It
. ■ «
85
Some Misconceptions
209
Charkha — Swaraj — Ahimsa
85
A Hot Gospeller
232
All on Trial
86
War — a Stage Long Outgrown
237
Two Questions from America
90
The Live Issue
246
My Position
92
An Interesting Discourse I-II
261,
266
Danger Signal
%
Non-violent Crafts
271
Jaiprakash’s Picture
96
Ahimsa in Daily Life
273
Jaipur State and Praja Mandal
...
99
A Village Engineer
• • •
278
Repression in Jodhpur
100
Sevagram Notes
• ••
281
Civil Disobedience
104
Committee for Preliminary Agreement ?
104
Unrepentant
212
What Big Employers Can Do
• ••
107
Khansaheb’s Ahimsa
« • •
213
About Zamindars
103
The Best Field for Ahimsa
214
Of What Avail Is Non-violence ?
• ••
114
The Correspondence
« V •
214
An English Suggestion
■ • •
115
The Annual Spinning Sacrifice
214
Wanton Destruction in Bidar
115
Travancore
216
The Ajmer Trouble
116
Servants of India Society
217
An Unjudicial Dictum
• • •
116
Not Quite So Bad
222
Hindu Muslim Tangle
117
A Worthy Educational Effort
222
A One-sided Inquiry
• ••
121
Two Just Complaints
• ••
223
■Gandhiji’s Statement
123
Travancore
225
Ajmer
■ at
124
Impossible
228
Eavouritism
131
There Is Violence in It
ccm
229
Non-cooperation
. • •
132
Spinning and Character
231
An Important Interview
136
A Testimony from England
« • •
231
Our Duty
140
Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar’s Extravagances 233
Non-resistance
. . .
144
Of Civil Disobedience
...
234
Five Questions
144
Is It Proper ?
236
Andrews’ Influence
...
144
Indore State and Harijans
236
Not Yet
148
Woman’s Role
236
" Will Leave No Stone Unturned ”
. • ■
148
For Khadi Workers
• * •
237
Bidar
149
‘What Else Besides Spinning?’
240
Curse of Untouchability
149
What of the “Weak Majority”?
241
Deenabandhu Memorial
150
Hopeful
241
Kerala Congress
...
152
The Biswa Affair
242
Peace in Sirohi
153
Is Non-violence Impossible?
244
Untouchability
153
The Test of Non-violence
...
245
Handmade Paper
153
Spinning Anniversary
...
247
Red Cross Fund
...
153
Aundh
...
248
■Comilla Municipality and Harijans
154
Not a Harijan
...
248
Hindu-Muslim
156
Moral Support
* • ■
249
Panic
...
157
‘One Step Forward’
250
Two Parties
164
A Convincing Argument
250
Copyright
164
Implications of Constructive Programme
252
Please Spare Me
165
Deeply Distressing
253
Andrews Memorial
165
Nazism in Its Nakedness
* • •
255
Tribute from South Africa
165
Travancore
256
Gwalior and Khadi
165
Dr. Lohia Again
257
Harijans of Garhwal
165
Asoka and Non-violence
259
A Walking Tour
166
Equal Distribution
* •«
260
Missionary Education in Assam
166
Debt Bondage of a Hill Tribe
9mm
264
Non-violence and Khadi
169
Improper Use
264
Spinning Competition in Ramgarh
171
My Idea of a Police Force
265
How to Combat Hitlerism
...
172
Non-violence of the Brave
268
Duty of Indians Overseas
172
Andrews Memorial
...
270
Caste Hindu Marries Harijan Girl
173
Sindh
272
Another Tribute
...
173
Peaceful Methods?
272
Adult Literacy
173
Biswa Miscarrriage Again
276
Both Happy and Unhappy
180
How to Quench It ?
277
What the Masnavi Says
183
Economic Ruin in Sindh
284
To Every Briton
185
Congress Ahimsa
o • •
285
About Working Committee’s Decision
186
Non-violence during Riots
285
Some Vital Questions
188
How to Universalise Khadi ?
285
A Valid Complaint
189
Not Quite New
m m m
286
Non-violence and Panic
192
I Was Unjust because Weak
« « •
292
‘ Copyright ’
193
Khadi Patrikas
<« * *
295
“ A Cry in the Wilderness ” ?
200
I Wonder
297
The Delhi Resolution
201
Khadi Week
298
Congress Membership and Non-violence
203
Some Criticism Answered
302
About the Waziris
204
Gandhiji’s Speech at the A. I. C. C.
303
Mysore Lawyers
205
Sikhs and the Sword
306
The Late Changanacherry Pillai
207
Correspondence
• « «
307
Is Islam Inspired?
• ••
207
Sindh Hindus
309
Subhasbabu
...
208
Interesting Parallel
# • •
311
Mysore Justice
• ••
211
Disgraceful If True
...
312
'Viceroy-Gandhi Correspondence
... 313
'The Breach
... 315
To Satyagrahis
... 315
Illegal Levy ?
... 316
A Christian Student’s Complaint
... 316
Two Thought-provoking Letters
... 317
-Physical Training and Ahimsa
... 318
Hyderabad '
... 320
Thanks
... 321
‘ A Scab in the Back ’ ?
... 321
Australian Soldiers
... 321
Jaipur
... 321
Fasting in Satyagraha
... 322
More about the Simla Visit
... 323
A British Endorsement
... 328
Two Points of- View
... 328
Civil Disobedience
... 329
To the Reader
... 333
Why Suspension
.'jaiprakash Narain
... 334
A Brave Statement
... 65
.Katju, K. N.
Non-violence cum Non-cooperation
... 181
.Kripalani, J. B.
Acharya Kripalani’s Inaugural Address
Linlithgow, Lord
... 67
The Correspondence
... 214
Viceroy-Gandhi Correspondence
Lohia, R. M.
... 313
Immediate Satyagraha
iMashruwala, K. G.
... 151
Khadi Can
... 77
Curious Objections
... 179
Our Textile Wants
... 228
Drawbacks of Non-violence
... 242
“ Representative Capacity ”
:Naik, G.
... 280
Town-dwellers and Village Industries
..Nayar, Sushila ( S. N. )
... 286
Sevagram Khadi Yatra
... 79
Subject
Classification
1. Congress
2. Indian States
3. Foreign Affairs
4. Education
5. Removal of Untouchability and Service of
Harijans
•6. Communal Unity
7. Village Industries
8. Village Reconstruction
9. Khadi
1. Congress
The Old Game ... M. K. Gandhi 1
Is It War ?
4
Banging the Door
• 4
India without the British
5
•..Question Box „ 8, 24, 29, 41, 73, 89, 93,
101, 109,
129, 137, 145, 161, 176, 183, 217,
234, 253, 268, 283
Occasional Notes M. D. 10, 47, 54, 133
When the British Withdraw ... M. K. Gandhi 28
When ? ... „
32
Jndia and the War
32
Pyarelal
A Doughty Dewan ... 14
An Interlude at Santiniketan ... 31
The Santiniketein Pilgrimage ... 34
Unconvincing Apologia ... 36
A Visit to Deenabandhu ... 40
The Old Game ... 62
Princely Extravaganza I-III 94, 103, 110
C. F. A. — the Man ... 98
Then and Now ... 107
Occasional Notes 119, 126, 154
This Picture and That ... 141
Three Witnesses ... 146
On the Road to Simla ... 189
More about Handicrafts ... 202
The Journey Back ... 226
Adult Education through Handicrafts
I-II 251, 263
Rajagopalachari, C.
Rajaji’s Postscript ... 308
Ramachandran, G.
Travancore ... 279
Kathiawad Famine Work ... 287
Shukla, Chandrashanker ( C. S. )
A Creditable Record ... 74
Spinning Wheel in China ... 91
In the Wake of Mechanisation I-IV 102, 117
Khadi Work in Tamil Nad I-II 135, 138
Shyamlal
Gandhi Scholarships ... 258
Subedar, Manu
Rural Humanity ... 170
Tarasingh, Master
Correspondence ... 307
Templin, R. T.
Open Letter ... 220
Thakkar, A. V.
Harijan Sevak Sangh ... 39
Scholarships for Harijan Girls ... 75
A Cry from South Orissa ... 131
Titbits ... 230
Index
OF Subjects
10. Relations of the Sexes
11. Non-violence
12. Prohibition
13. Hindustani
14. Labour
15. Obituaries
16. Personal — by and about Gandhiji
17. Economics — General
18. Miscellaneous
What Resolution Means ... M. K. Gandhi 33
Unconvincing Apologia ... Pyarelal 36
For Englishmen ... M. K. Gandhi 44
Jaiprakash Narain „ 48
Candid Comments ... 51
Another Englishman’s Letter ... M. K. Gandhi 52
The National Week ... . „ 56
Ramgarh ... M. D. 57
Every Congress Committee a
Satyagraha Committee ... M. K, Gandhi 64
A Brave Statement ... J. Narain 65
A Chief Judge Descends ' ... M. K. Gandhi 68
4
The Tw^o Speeches
• ••
69
How to Evoke the Best
« » «
72
A Baffling Situation
• • •
76
Sevagram Khadi Yatra
S. N. 79
How Not to Do It
M. K. Gandhi 85
All on Trial
* > o
86
A Chinese Visitor
A. K. 87
My Position
M. K. Gandhi 92
Danger Signal
• ••
96
Jaiprakash’s Picture
• • •
96
Civil Disobedience
Committee for Preliminary
• 94
, M. K. Gandhi 104
Agreement ?
• 09
104
An Important Interview
• 09
A. K. 105
Then and Now
Pyarelal 107
About Zamindars
Of What Avail Is
, M. K. Gandhi 108
Non-violence ?
• ••
114
The Ajmer Trouble
ft ft •
116
Gandhiji’s Statement
ft • •
123
Ajmer
ft ft*
M. K. Gandhi 124
Occasional Notes
Pyarelal 126
Non-cooperation
ft ftft
M. K. Gandhi 132
An Important Interview
tt • ft
136
Our Duty
140
Five Questions
144
Three Witnesses
• ftft
Pyarelal 146
Occasional Notes
M. D. 147
Not Yet
“ Will Leave No Stone
...
M. K. Gandhi 148
Unturned ”
• • •
148
Immediate Satyagraha ”
R. M. Lohia 151
Kerala Congress
M. K. Gandhi 152
Red Cross Fund
„ 153
Panic
„ 157
Two Parties
• ••
164
A Correction
• • •
M. D. 166
The Eclipse of Faith I-II
„ 167,174
Both Happy and Unhappy
• ••
M. K. Gandhi 180
Gandhiji Absolved
182
Some Vital Questions
««•
M. K. Gandhi 188
What Led to the Decision
• ••
M. D. 196
“ A Cry in the Wilderness ”
M. K. Gandhi 200
The Delhi Resolution
Congress Membership and
...
201
Non-violence
203
About the Waziris
204
Working Committee and theWaziris 204
Subhasbabu
* * ■
M. K. Gandhi 208
Some Misconceptions
ft *•
M. D. 209
The Journey Back
...
Pyarelal 226
There Is Violence in It
M. K. Gandhi 229
Of Civil Disobedience
„ 234
*What Else besides Spinning
?’
240
Is Non-violence Impossible?
244
The Test of Non-violence
...
„ 245
The Live Issue
• ft ft
M. D. 246
Moral Support
ft ft ft
M. K. Gandhi 249
A Convincing Argument
Implications of Constructive
...
„ 250
Progromme
252
Deeply Distressing
.. 253
Dr. Lohia Again
ft
257
An Interesting Discourse I-II
ftftft
M. D. 261, 266
Sindh
9ftift
M. K. Gandhi 272
“Representative Capacity” K. G. Mashruwala 280
Congress Ahimsa ... M. K. Gandhi 285
Seven Days in Bombay ... M. D. 289
I Was Unjust because Weak ... M. K. Gandhi 292
A. I. C. C. Resolution ... 296
An American’s Questions ... M. D. 298
More about the Resolution ... „ 300
Some Criticism Answered ... M. K. Gandhi 302
Gandhiji’s Speech at the A. I. C. C. 303
Sikhs and the Sword ... M. K. Gandhi 306
Correspondence M. K. Gandhi — Tarasingh 307
Rajaji’s Postscript ... 308
Viceroy-Gandhi Correspondence 313
‘Come Thou in a Shower of
Compassion’
The Breach
To Satyagrahis
Two Thought-provoking
Letters
‘ A Stab in the Back ’ ?
More about the Simla Visit
An Acceptable Sacrifice
The Liberty We Want
Civil Disobedience
Working Committee’s Statement
2 .
M. D. 314
M. K. Gandhi 315
315
M K. Gandhi 317
„ 321
323
M. D. 325
326
M. K. Gandhi 329
332
Indian States
Occasional Notes ... M. D. 2, 133, 194
A Doughty Dewan ... Pyarelal 14
Question Box M. K. Gandhi 49, 89, 283'
Princely Extravaganza I-III Pyarelal 94, 103, 110
Jaiprakash’s Picture ... M. K. Gandhi 96
Jaipur State and Praja Mandal
Repression in Jodhpur
A One-sided Inquiry
Peace in Sirohi
The Eclipse of Faith — I
Mysore Lawyeres
Mysore Justice
99
„ 100
121
153
M. D. 167
M. K. Gandhi one:
& M. D.
M. K. Gandhi 211
Travancore
1'
216
Travancore
11
225
Sir C. P. Ramaswami
Aiyar’s Extravagances
1 1
233
Aundh
1 1
248
Not a Harijan
11
248
Travancore
1 1
256
Hyderabad
1 1
320
Jaipur
11
321
Fasting in Satyagraha
11
322
3. Foreign Affairs
Then and Now
Pyarelal
107
Occasional Notes
This Picture and That
How to Combat Hitlerism
To Every Briton
Unrepentant
The Correspondence
Not Quite So Bad
Hopeful
Question Box
Nazism in Its Nakedness
Occasional Notes
Interesting Parallel
The Liberty We Want
War Resisters
119, 154
141
... M. K. Gandhi 172
185
212 '
Gandhi-Linlithgow 214
... M. K. Gandhi 222
241
253
... „ 255
M. D. 309-
... M. K. Gandhi 311
M. D. 326
331
o
4. Education
What I Saw in Santiniketan ... M. K. Gandhi 21
Clear Injustice ... ,, 28
■Question Box „ 29, 49, 159, 193, 283
Acharya Kripalani’s Inaugural
Address ... 67
The Basic Education Court ... A. K. 75
Sevagram Khadi Yatra ... S. N. 79
Basic Education ... Ashadevi 130
Favouritism ... M. K. Gandhi 131
Missionary Education in Assam „ 166
Adult Literacy ... „ 173
A Worthy Educational Effort „ 222
Spinning -and Character ... „ 231
‘One Step Forward* ... „ 250
Adult Education through
Handicrafts I-II ... Pyarelal 251, 263
A Praiseworthy Endeavour ... A. K. 286
A Christian Student’s Complaint M. K. Gandhi 316
5. Removal of Untouchability and Service
of Harijans
A Curious Situation ... M. K. Gandhi 5
Harijan Sevak Sangh ... A. V. Thakkar 39
Scholarships for Harijan Girls ... „ 75
Harijan Work in Indore ... A. K. 77
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 89, 93, 137, 159, 217
Commendable ... M. D. 143
Curse of Untouchability ... M. K. Gandhi 149
Untouchability ... „ 153
■Comilla Municipality and Harijans „ 154
Harijans of Garhwal ... „ 165
A Walking Tour ... „ 166
Caste Hindu Marries Harijan Girl „ 173
The Journey Back ... Pyarelal 226
Titbits ... A. V. Thakkar 230
Indore State aud Harijans ... M. K. Gandhi 236
Gandhi Scholarships ... Shyamlal 258
Fasting in Satyagraha ... M. K. Gandhi 322
A Righteous Fast ... A. K. 324
Untouchability in Kotah ... „ 332
6. Communal Unity
Communal Decision ... M. K. Gandhi 9
Question Box „ 9, 29, 41, 49, 101, 109, 123, 129,
137, 159, 183, 193, 234
My Advice to Noakhali Hindus „
21
The Old Game
... Pyarelal
62
My Answer to Qaid-e-Azam
... M. K. Gandhi
65
A Baffling Situation
« •«
76
•All on Trial
• H
86
My Position
•••
92
The Hand of the Devil?
M. D.
112
An English Suggestion
... M. K. Gandhi 115
Wanton Destruction in Bidar
... ,1
115
Hindu Muslim Tangle
...
117
Occasional Notes
Pyarelal
119
Occasional Notes
M. D.
133
God-speed
141
-Non-resistance
... M. K. Gandhi 144
Bidar
••• »i
149
Curse of Untouchability
n
149
Hindu-Muslim
f f
156
The Eclipse of Faith — ^II
M. D.
174
What the Masnavi Says
... M. K. Gandhi 183
Is Islam Inspired?
••• «
207
The Biswa Affair
242
Biswa Miscarriage Again
276
Economic Ruin in Sindh
284
Seven Days in Bombay
M. D. 289
I Wonder
• ••
M. K. Gandhi 297
Sindh Hindus
• ■ •
309
7, Village Industries
Adulteration of Ghee
■ « «
M. K. Gandhi 5
Skimmed Milk
o • ■
23
Gandhi Seva Sangh-III
*«•
M. D. 42
What Big Employers Can
Do
M. K. Gandhi 107
The Beneficent Bee
...
V. G. D. 152
Handmade Paper
...
M. K. Gandhi 153
Rural Humanity
M. Subedar 170
More about Handicrafts
• ••
Pyarelal 202
Non-violent Crafts
• ••
M. D. 271
Handicrafts in America
Town-dwellers aad village
...
A. K. 275
Industries
■ a a
G. Naik 286
8. Village Reconstruction
Village Reconstruction in the
South ... A. K. 259
Debt Bondage of a Hill Tribe... M. K. Gandhi 264
Sevagram Notes ... M. D. 281
Kathiawad Famine Work G. Ramachandran 287
9. Khadi
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 30,
73. 145, 159, 176, 217, 268, 276, 283
Gandhi Seva Sangh I-III
‘ Khadi Banks ’
Women and Voluntary
Endeavour
Ramgarh
A Creditable Record
Khadi Can
Sevagram Khadi Yatra
Charkha — Swaraj — Ahimsa
Spinning Wheel in China
What Big Employers Can Do...
Example Better than Precept...
Khadi Work in Tamil Nad I-II
M. D. 17. 25, 42
M. K. Gandhi 48
50
57
74
K.
Charkha v. Takli
A Feast for the Eyes
Gwalior and Khadi
Non-violence and Khadi
Spinning Competition in
The Eclipse of Faith — ^II
Curious Objections
The Journey Back
Our Textile Wants
Spinning and Character
For Khadi Workers
Spinning Anniversary
How to Universalise Khadi ?
One Aspect of the Cloth
Industry
Khadi Patrikas
M. D.
C. S.
G. Mashruwala 77
S. N. 79
M. K. Gandhi 85
C. S. 91
M. K. Gandhi 107
M. D. 113
C. S. 135, 138
C. A. Aiyamuthu 138
M. D. 139
... M. K. Gandhi 165
169
Ramgarh „ 171
... M. D. 174
K. G. Mashruwala 179
Pyarelal 226
K. G. Mashruwala 228
... M. K. Gandhi 231
237
247
„ 285
K. C. Gandhi 288
M. K. Gandhi 295
298
Khadi Week ... „
10 Relations of the Sexes
What Is Woman’s Role ... M. K. Gandhi 12
Question Box ... 29, 41, 145, 159, 176
A Hideous Evil ... A. K. 135
11. Non-Violence
Occasional Notes ... M. D. 2, 194, 309
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 7,
102, 129, 193, 215, 217, 234, 253, 268, 276, 283
GEindhi Seva Sangh — ... M. D. 17
An Interlude at Santiniketan ... Pyarelal 31
6
The London Assassination
An Insane Act
How to Evoke the Best
Charkha — S waraj — Ahimsa
Two Questions from America
Of What Avial Is Non-violence ?
Non-violence and Khadi
How to Combat Hitlerism
Both Happy and Unhappy
Non-violence cum Non-
co-operation
Gandhiji Absolved
To Every Briton
About Working Committee’s
Decision
Non-violence and Panic
What Led to the Decision
“ A Cry in the Wilderness ?
The Delhi Resolution
Congress Membership and
Non-violence
“For He Had Great Possessions”
Some Misconceptions
Unrepentant
Khansaheb’s Ahimsa
The Best Field for Ahimsa
M. K. Gandhi 56
56
72
85
90
114
169
172
180
K. N. Katju
181
182
M. K. Gandhi 185
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi
186
192
196
200
201
203
206
209
A. K.
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi 212
213
„ 214
Gandhi-Linlithgow 214
. R. T. Templin 220
. M. K. Gandhi 222
223
. Pyarelal
. M. K. Gandhi
226
228
229
231
232
236
237
241
241
245
246
249
250
255
259
M. D. 261, 266
K. Gandhi
M. D.
K. Gandhi
The Correspondence
Open Letter
Not Quite So Bad
Two Just Complaints
The Journey Back
Impossible
There Is Violence in It ... ,,
A Testimony from England ... „
A Hot Gospeller ... M. D.
Woman’s Role ... M. K. Gandhi
War — a Stage Long Outgrown ... M. D.
What of the “Weak Majority” ? M. K. Gandhi
Hopeful ... „
Drawbacks of Non-violence K. G. Mashruwala 242
Is Non-violence Impossible ? ... M. K. Gandhi 244
The Test of Non-violence
The Live Issue
Moral Support ... M,
A Convincing Argument
Nazism in Its Nakedness
Asoka and Non-violence
An Interesting Discourse I-II ...
My Idea of a Police Force ... M
Non-violence of the Brave
Peaceful Methods ?
Ahimsa in Daily Life
How to Quench It ?
“ A Seeker’s ” Question
Congress Ahimsa
Non-violence during Riots
Not Quite New
Seven Days in Bombay
A. I. C. C. Resolution
An American’s Questions
Some Criticism Answered
Gandhiji’s Speech at the A. 1
Sikhs and the Sw’ord
Correspondence
Tarasingh-M. K. Gandhi
Interesting Parallel ... M. K. Gandhi 311
Viceroy — Gandhi Correspondence 313
Physical Training and Ahimsa M. K. Gandhi 318
A British Endorsement ... „ 328
War Resisters ... M. D. 331
12. Prohibition
A Bengal Grievance ... V. G. D. 16
13. Hindustani
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 41
Rashtrabhasha Adhyapan
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi
M. K. Gandhi
M. D.
! M. D.
. M. K. Gandhi
C C
. M. k. Gandhi
265
268
272
273
277
280
285
285
286
289
296
298
302
303
306
307
Mandir, Wardha
Two Just Complaints
Old Mind v. Old Age
14.
Question Box
Planters’ Paradise
... S. Agrawal 99
... M. K. Gandhi 223
... V. Ehave '287
Labour
... M. K. Gandhi 93
... G. Bardoloi 162
15. Obituaries
The Deenabandhu ... M. D. 81
A True Friend of the Poor ... M. K. Gandhi 84
Andrews’ Legacy ... ,, 84
A Humble Tribute ... A. K. 87
C. F. A. — the Man ... Pyarelal 98'
Andrews’ Influence ... M. K. Gandhi 144
Tribute from South Afria ... ,, 165
Another Tribute ... „ 173
The Late Changanacherry Pillai 207
16. Personal — ^by and about Gandhiji
Non-resistance ... M. K. Gandhi 144
Please Spare Me ... .. 165
Question Box ... ,, 253'
Thanks ... „ 321
Fasting in Satyagraha ... ,. 322
17. Economics — General
In the Wake of Mechanisation I-IV C. S. 102,117'
The Eclipse of Faith-I ... M. D. 167
The Only Cure ... ,, 177
Equal Distribution ... M. K. Gandhi 260
1 8. Miscellaneous
-II
M. D. 6
M. K. Gandhi 7. 73, 159,
M. D. 17, 25
M. K. Gandhi
SI
Pyarelal
Rediscovering Religion-
Question Box
Gandhi Seva Sangh I-II
The Right Step
Segaon Becomes Sevagram
The Santiniketan Pilgrimage
A Visit to Deenabandhu
A Very Useful Publication
Occasional Notes
An Unjudicial Dictum
Our Castes
Deenabandhu Memorial
M. K. Gandhi and Others 150
... M. K. Gandh il65
M. K. Gandhi
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi 116
M. D. 122
20
28.
34
40'
53
54
Andrews Memorial
Unworthy of Wardha !
Duty of Indians Overseas
A Cry from South Orissa
“ Sandhya Meditations ”
Copyright
A Valid Complaint
On the Road to Simla
‘ Copyright ’
Servants of India Society
A Hot Gospeller
Is it Proper ?
Improper Use
Andrews Memorial Fund
Andrews Memorial
Disgraceful If True
Illegal Levy?
Australian Soldiers
Andrews Memorial Fund
To the Reader
Why Suspension
M. D. 172
M. K. Gandhi 172
A. V. Tbakkar 131
M. D. 158
M. K. Gandhi 164
189
Pyarelal 189 '
M. K. Gandhi 193
217
m’.’ D. 232
,M;K. Gandhi 236
264
267
270
M. K. Gandhi 312
316
„ 321
326
M. K. Gandhi 333
334
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VoL. VIII, No. 1 ] POONA — SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
THE OLD GAME ?
( By M. K. Gandhi )
After my return from Delhi I have had a
letter redirected from New Delhi. It is from a
valued co-worker. I must share with all concerned
the most important paragraphs in it:
‘‘ Everything that has happened during the last
month or so confirms me in the belief that there
is not the slightest ground for hope that the British
Government will accept our position. In fact many
things have happened which demonstrate that they
are following a very definite imperialist policy. You
must have seen that the British Parliament has just
passed a Bill amending the Government of India
Act which limits the powers of Provincial Govern-
ments in regard* to taxation. This was specially in
view of the Professional Tax in the U. P. which is
thus vetoed. Apart from the demerit of such a
decision which reduces the powers of the Provincial
Assembly, the time and the method chosen for it are
eloquent of the- imperialist outlook of the British
Government and indicate that the outlook has in no
way changed.
It is not at all encouraging to find that you are
going to New Delhi to interview the Viceroy. The
same old game is played again, the background is the
same, the various objectives are the same, the actors
are the same, and the results must be the same.
There are, however, some unfortunate indirect
results also. An atmosphere of approaching com-
promise pervades the country when, in effect* there
is no ground for it. It is enervating and depressing
because it does not come out of strength but, in
the case of many individuals, from the excessive
desire to avoid conflict at all costs and to get back
to the shreds of power which we had previously.
Conflict is undesirable, but obviously conflict cannot
be avoided at all costs, for sometimes such avoidance
itself is a more costly and harmful affair- For the
moment, however, there is no immediate question of
conflict. The question is of maintaining our position
with dignity, and not weakening it in any way. I
fear that the impression is widely prevalent in
England as well as in India that we are going in
no event to have any conflict and therefore we are
going to accept such terms as we can get. This
kind of impression is demoralising. I have noticed
during the last fortnight that even our Congress
delegaites’ elections have been influenced by this.
Many people who, for fear of possible conflict, were
keeping in the background, have now pushed them-
sdves in front again when the possibility of enjoying
the plums of office and power seems to dangle again
In front of them. The effort of several months to
keep undesirables out of the Congress has partly
failed because of this sudden change in the Indian
atmosphere which led them to believe that the
compromise was imminent.
The British Government is also reacting in a way
unfavourable to us, though it may use soft language.
Of course, it wants to come to terms with us
because it wants our support in the war. But it is
much more certain that it does not wish to give
up any shred of real power or change its funda-
mental imperialist policy in order to come to terms
with us. It is carrying on and will carry on its old
intrigue on the communal issue though occasionally
it uses a few critical words against the Muslim
League in order to soothe the Congress. So far as
it is concerned, it will try to win us over, keeping
its present position intact. If this is possible, well
and good for it. If this does not take place, as
seems likely even to .it, then to carry on from time
to time conversations with Indian leaders, to prolong
the issue, to make it appear that we are on the
verge of a compromise, and thus to soothe both
world opinion and Indian opinion. This second policy
has the additional advantage, from their point of
view, of exhausting our energy and toning us down,
so that, if ultimately a conflict does come, the
requisite atmosphere is lacking for it. It is the
general belief among official circles in England that
their policy of parleys and postponement has had
this result and the situation in India, which was
threatening when the Congress ministries resigned, is
much easier now and no dangers are to be feared.
It seems to me that while we cannot and must
not precipitate a conflict, and while we need not
bang the door to a possible and honourable compro-
mise, because your methods are never to bang the
door, still we must make it crystal clear that there
can be or will be no compromise except on the
conditions stated by us previously. As a matter of fact
even these conditions have to be slightly reviewed
from the point of view of developments in the
war. We cannot now say, as we then said, that
we want to know whether this war is imperialist
or not. The British Government’s answer to us as
well as their consistent policy in the war and in
foreign afeirs.has been one of full-blooded imperialism.
We must, therefore, necessarily proceed on' this
admitted fact that it is ' an imperialist ' war, any
profession to the contrary notwithstanding. The war
and British policy grow more and more sinister
every day, and 1 would hate to see India entangled
in any way in this imperialist adventure from which
India can only lose, not only materially but spiritually.
This point seems to me of vital importance today.
2
HAEIJAN
[February 17, 1940
Thus it seems to me that the most important
thing for us to do is to make our position perfectly
clear to the world, to the British Government and
to the Indian people. There is too much misunder-
standing on this issue of compromise, and this
misunderstanding is entirely to our disadvantage and
to the advantage of British imperialism which
meanwhile is exploiting our resources for the war
and even pretending to have a large amount of our
goodwill. Approach by us to the British Government
or to the Viceroy increases these misunderstandings
and lead the British Government even further away
from a right compromise. ”
The warning is sound. Perhaps I did not
need it. But such warnings are never superfluous.
It is unwise to be too sure of one’s Own wisdom.
It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest
might weaken and the wisest might err. And
then, so far as I am concerned, I am so
ignorant even of current events that I feel
thankful when co-workers keep me posted with
things I ought to know.
But whilst I value the warning given and
admit the force of the argument advanced, I do
not repent of my having visited H. E. the
Viceroy and having had the prolonged talk. It
has given me added strength. It is of great
value to an army that its general gains added
strength. I should therefore repeat the perform-
ance every time the Viceroy summons me, i. e.
so long as I have faith in his sincerity. And
every time I shall come out with greater strength
than I go with. The method of Satyagraha
requires that the Satyagrahi should never lose
hope so long as there is the slightest ground
left for it. For he never despairs of being able
to evoke the best in his opponent, his mission
being to convert the opponent, not humiliate or
defeat him. He therefore even knocks at his
opponent’s door if it becomes necessary, as I
did often with General Smuts. It so happened
that the last opening, when even I had the
least hope, proved the prelude to success.
There ought not to be demoralisation among
the ranks. It is up to the lieutenants to be in
constant touch with them and explain to them
the reason for, and the bearing on the struggle
of, each step. For whether there is actual
battle or merely preparation, the education of
the masses continues without interruption. It is a
great mistake to suppose that the j revolutionary
instinct will die. if the garnered energies of the
people have no outlet. This may be true of
violent revolution but it is utterly wrong of
non-violent revolution. I am quite convinced that
we would put ourselves in the wrong if in out
impatience we precipitate the battle or, which
is - the same thing, bang the door on negotia-
tions. The battle will come at the right time
when it is clear, beyond doubt that there is no
escape from it. Misunderstanding created in
Britain or the world outside need not perturb
us much for, being foundationless, it is sure to
disappear in the face of our truth.
Nor need the prospect worry us, of the nego-
tiations proving insincere in the sense of their
being used as a screen to cover Britain’s plans
to consolidate her strength by misleading world
opinion and creating and strengthening divisions
among us. What does matter is our own weak-
ness for which we alone should be to blaine.
Segaon, 11-2-40
OCCASIONAL NOTES
Pacifism on Trial
I gave the other day two visitors’ impressions
of the Conscientious Objectors’ Tribunals in
England. Their working is not so simple as it
looked then, and there is plenty of adverse criti-
cism of their methods. The young men between
20 and 23 who come before these tribunals mostly
come from humble homes and most of them
have had little mote than elementary education.
They are put through the rack by highly
educated men of legal and dialectical acumen,
and it speaks volumes for the strength of faith
of these young men that stand these judges
cross-examination. In many cases it becomes an
obviously unequal game. ‘ What makes you think
that Christ condemns war ? He .has never said
so, has He ? ’ are the questions put to every-
one, and the answers give rise to numerous
casuistical questions and cross-questions. Whatever
ma y be Said of this treatment of men with
honest convictions, there is no doubt that the
pacifist movement must have brought plenty of
popular education in its train. Besides, the im-
plications of pacifism are being discussed thread-
bare. Evidently the conviction that man ought
not to kill brother man does demand a high
price. The very first price to pay is to be, treated
like a prisoner in the -dock and questioned and
cross-questioned as though one was an ordinary
felon. And then there are tribunals and tribu-
nals. The South Western Tribunal gave 41 per
cent unconditional exemptions as against 4 per
cent given by the London Tribunal !
To remedy these discrepancies an Appellate
Tribunal has been appointed with Mr, H. A. L.
Fisher, Warden of New College, Oxford, as
Chairman, and Sir Arthur Pugh, a former Trade
Union Chairman and Sir Leonard Costello, a
former High Court Judge of Calcutta, as
members. It is reported that Mr. Fisher asks
all kinds of questions to establish a man’s
pacifism, including what sacrifices he has
made for his pacifism, and often asks a man
whether he is a teetotaller! The relevance
of this may not be understood in England,
but it would be understood here where a
man’ s pacifism may well be challenged by asking
him if he is a vegetarian. There is no doubt'
that pacifism is on its trial and, whatever the
consequences, all true pacifists must welcome
the circumstance.
“ Political ” Pacifists
The most intriguing case that has come before
■ the Appellate Tribunal is that of people who
EebetjarY 17, 1940 ] HARIJAN
are described as ‘ political ’ pacifists, as distin-
guished from the type described as religious or
ethical. There were two cases in which the
Government were the appellant. Mr. Fisher, the
Chairman, esplained the distinction between the
two types. “ The legal point, ” he said, “ is that
under the terms of this Act protection is given
to the pacifist, the honest, conscientious paci-
fist, that is to say, the man who objects to
war as a thing evil in itself. That was the
intention of the statute, not to protect every
form of conscientious objection, ” of which last
he gave as instances that of a fascist who may
have “conscientious objection” to fighting for
parliamentary government, or of a socialist who
may have an objection to fighting for a capita-
list State. “The issue,” he added, “is not the
quality of the conscience, but its character. Does
a non-pacifist political objector come under this
Act?” Mr. Fenner Brockway, who appeared for
one of the objectors, contended that “ the paci-
fist’s supreme loyalty is to his conception of
God or of the universe. The socialist’s supreme
loyalty is to the workers of all lands with whom
he feels a unity equivalent ter the unity which
a patriot feels with his nation. To a poli-
tical objector it would be morally wrong to kill
his fellow-workers in the interests of the pos-
sessing class. It is a matter of conscience to him
no less than to the pacifist.” Moreover he tried
to show, by quoting from two Cabinet Ministers’
speeches, that “it was the intention of those who
drafted the Act to cover all classes of consci-
entious objectors. ” The former Calcutta Judge
in his peremptory manner said : “ The Tribunal
is not concerned with what some politicians have
said. It is concerned only with the Act itself.”
The objection was ruled out, and both the objec-
tors were ordered to be struck off the register of
the exemptees. Mr. Brockway has now protested
against the Tribunal’s refusal to consider the
Prime Minister’s and Labour Minister’s state-
ments in the House of Commons, and asked if
the assurances they gave were scraps of paper.
The Prime Minister had said that the Act was'
meant to exclude “only shirkers” and the Labour
Minister had said that “ conscientious objection
is not defined in the Act, and local tribunals
have to use their own judgment in deciding
whether an application, on whatever ground it
is based, is or is not of a conscientious nature.”
In reply to a question: “Can the Minister say
that he agrees that this House, in giving the
right to conscientious objectors, meant to do so
on all those grounds — ethical and political ? ”
he said: “That is still the idea.”
If “ conscientious objection” is not defined in
the Act, the two applicants ought to have been
•exempted. But taking a detached view, it would
appear that a pacifist is only he who objects
to all war as an evil in itself, whether it is
fought by a Government that has or has
not his allegiance.
A Satyagrahi
There will always be a difference between
Indian and European Satyagrahis and pacifists.
An instance which will surprise the West may
be cited. Even Gandhiji’s fast at Rajkot against
what he knew to be a grave breach of a
solemn pledge by the ruler of Rajkot was
little understood, and when he renounced the
Gwyer Award many people, especially in the West,
failed to understand the reason and believed
that the Award was renounced because Gandhiji
had realised that his fast was coercive or immoral.
But Gandhiji had never doubted the purity of
the fast; only he rejected the Award because he
felt that his seeking of the Viceroy’s interven-
tion had vitiated the fast. Shri Shambhushankar,
a humble worker of Palitana State, is now on
a similar fast. He underwent a fast of 15 days
some months ago against what he felt was a
breach of promise by the Thakore Saheb of Pali-
tana. The Dewan then persuaded him to
break the fast on certain assurances. There was
no allegation of coercion as the Satyagrahi was
on the best possible terms with the Thakore
Saheb and the Dewan. Then he was in jail.
Now he has begun a fast unto death for breach
of the assurances given to him by the ^ State.
Today - 11th - is the 21st day of his fast. He is
perfectly happy and cheerful, his statements are
free from the slightest expression of anger against
the State, and his motive is only to rouse the
conscience of the Thakore Saheb and the Dewan.
In a letter I have received from him today he
writes :
“ After the hammering I received last year at
Pachhegam and the hammerings received before at
Dharasna and Rajkot, my body is far from being
what it used to be. Last time I fasted in the
Palitana Jail I fainted as early as the third day.
This time the beautiful spiritual atmosphere about
me has sustained me, and even ’on this the eighteen-
th day though I am weak I have enough energy
in me. Yesterday, for instance, I span two thousand
yards, and I mean to keep this up so long as God
vouchsafes the strength to me. Fatiguing as it is,
it gives me joy. The whole thing has become a
kind of ritual — spinning and devotional songs- — in which
young and old, men, women and children join cheer-
fully. I should be content if, by the time I breathe
my last, the whole village without a single exception
pledges itself to spinning and khadi-wearing. It
would be our humble contribution to Bapu’s great
task. Please let not Bapu worry about me. His
silent blessings are enough to lead me on.”
My heart bows in silent prayer to the intrepid
spirit of Shambhubhai. Whether he lives or
dies, he will win, and his victory will have
blazed a trail that will light the path of many
a Satyagrahi still to come.
Segaon, ll-2'-40 M. D.
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. Rs. 5-10-0. Postage 7 As*
Available at Harijan Office-Poona 4.
4 HAEIJAls [ February 17, 1940
NOTICE
The Index of Volume VII, covering 10 pages, is
being given, free of charge, as a supplement to this
issue.
Issues of Vol. VII will now be available . at three
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4-l(itijcLn
Feb. 17
1940
IS IT WAR?
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The Builders of the British Indian Erdpire have
patiently built its four pillars — the European
Interests, the Army, the Princes and the Com-
munal Divisions. The last three were to sub-
serve the first. It is clear to the realist that
the Builders have to remove the four pillars
before they can claim to have given up the
Empire or the Empire spirit. But they say to
the nationalists or the destroyers of the Empire
spirit, “ You have to deal with all the four
pillars yourselves, before we can treat India as
an Independent Nation instead of being our
Dependency.” They say in other words, “ Guaran-
tee the European interests, make your own
army, treat with the Princes and with the
.communalists otherwise known as minorities,”
The Destroyers retort: “ You imposed the Euro-
pean interests on us, for their defence you
built an army and kept it a close preserve, you
saw that you could use the then existing Princes
for your own purpose, you made them and un-
made them, you created new ones, you armed
them with powers they could not enjoy before
with safety, in fact you partitioned India so
that it could never rise against you in one mass.
You saw again that we were cursed with the
caste spirit, you took advantage of our weak-
ness and refined it till at last claims are made
which, if they were satisfied, there would be no
single Indian nation and no independence. Add to
all this the fact that by your policy of disarma-
ment you have emasculated a whole nation. But
we do not blame you for the past. On the
contrary we admire your bravery, skill and spirit
of adventure. You have copied other Empire
Builders who preceded you. You have improved
upon them in a variety of ways. But if you pro-
fess, as you have professed, that you have decided
to give India her due, then you have to remove
from our way the obstacles you have created.
You are entitled to ask us to recognise the
difficulties in the way of your making delivery
and even to help you. If you are honest, you
will leave us to do the best. You must trust
our sense of justice, not your strong arm, to
make us do what is right and proper. Hitherto
you have determined our fate for us. Now if
you are earnest, you will not only let us
determine the method and manner of governing
ourselves but even help us to do so, if we
want your help.”
Lord Zetland has given the answer to the
Destroyers which I paraphrase as follows: “We
mean to hold on to what we have. Within that
orbit, we will let you have such freedom as
we think is good for you. This war that we
are fighting is to prevent the disruption of our
Empire. We want your help, if you will give
it on these terms. It is good for you and us.
But we will do without your help if you will
not give it. You are not the only party we
have to deal with. There are many in India
who recognise the benefits- of British Rule and
pax Britannica. We propose to win the war
with the help we can command from India
through the loyal agencies. Their services we
shall recognise by the grant of further reforms
when the time comes. This is what we mean
when we say we shall make the world safe for
democracy. For we are the most democratic
power in the world. Therefore, if we are safe,
so are those who are with us. Those like India
who are under our tutelage will be initiated
into the art of democracy in gradual stages so
that their progress may be uninterrupted and
they might not have to go through the travail
we had to go through. ” 1 hope the paraphrase
does no injustice to Lord Zetland. If it is
fairly correct, the issues are quite clear. Between
the two — the Nationalist and the Imperialist —
there is no meeting ground. If, therefore. Lord
Zetland represents the British Government’s
considered view, it is a declaration of war
against nationalist India. For all the four pillars
stand firm, rock-like. The more the nationalists
try to deal with them as if they were problems
for which they were responsible, the firmer they
must become. I cannot conscientiously pray for
the success of British arms if it means a further
lease of life to India’s subjection to foreign
domination. I write this last sentence with a
heavy heart.
Segaon, 13-2-40
BANGING THE DOOR
Gandhiji has issued the following statement
to the press:
Lord Zetland’s recent pronouncement, if report-
ed correctly, sets at rest all speculation regarding
the Government’s attitude towards the national-
ist demand. I have been taught to believe that
Dominion Status after the Statute of Westminster
pattern is akin to Independence and includes
the right to secede. Therefore I had thought
there would be no difficulty about Britain allow-
ing India to determine her own status. But
Lord Zetland makes it clear that Britain, not
India, has to determine it. In other words, the
British hold on India must remain. He also puts
the burden upon the nationalists of solving the
minorities question and the like. I have shown
how impossible this is without previous recogni-
February 17, 1940 3 HARIJAN 5
tion of India’s Independence, no doubt subject
to safeguards. His Lordship thinks that, because
some Indians have received the boon of English
education and have learnt ideas of freedom
from British writers, they will want always to
be under British tutelage, euphemistically called
partnership. This is what I call banging the door
upon the nationalist position. Does it mean a
pact deadlier than was announced at the last
Round Table Conference? If it does, it is a
declaration of war against nationalists who are
out to destroy the empire spirit. I submit that
it is wrong to dismiss the Indian claim by
accusing the nationalists of losing realities
in idealism. I suggest that it is he who refuses
to &ce realities and is wandering in a
forest of unrealities. I cannot accuse him of
idealism. I assure him that Nationalist India is
dreadfully in earnest.
Segaon, 14-2-40
Notes
India without the British
A retired English collector thus cables from
England :
“ Please consider that India without British troops
and the sure shield of the British navy would be
at the mercy of Pathans, Afghans and Japan. The'
Constituent Assembly would all be in a concentration
camp very quickly or killed, Satyagraha only works
with civilised people who are gentlemen. ”
These are honest fears of an honest English-
man. But the fears are only imaginary. The
English friend gives little credit to Indian
nationalists when he thinks that they contem-
plate a Constituent Assembly in a vaccuum
which can be blown to pieces by any power.
If there is an honourable settlement, the Consti-
tuent Assembly will meet in the presence of the
British but without any interference from them.
If there is no settlement, it will meet after a
successful rebellion, in which case India will
have made herself ready to face any emer-
gency. There is no other contingency possible
in which a Constituent Assembly can mekt»
These fears reflect no credit on the British
regime in India. Whose fault is it that India
has no army and navy of her own? But the
absence of army and navy will not deter an
awakened people from throwing over domination,
foreign or indigenous. My friend’s ignorance of
the working of Satyagraha is quite ezcusable. I
have no finished example of a nation having
modelled her life on the basis of Satyagraha. I
can only assure him that it is not the sob-stuflF
he believes it to be. It is of little use if it can
work only among the so-called civilised people.
The partition separating the civilised from the
•uncivilised is very thin. Both act almost alike
’•when their passions are roused.
Segaon, 12-2-40
A Curious Situaricn
The Secretary of the Valmiki Mandai,
Ludhiana, says in a letter:
“ Under the Poona Pact, eight seats were allotted
to the Punjab Hindu Depressed Classes on the
Punjab Legislative Assembly. These seats were
deducted from Hindu seats. Sikh and other Depressed
Class people were counted amongst their own
co-religionists. The Sikh Harijans are fighting with
their own high caste Sikh brethren for separate
seats and we wish them full success- But we also
wish that they should not encroach upon what has
been allotted to us."
Consequently the Mandai has sent a petition
to the Punjab Government, from which I take
the relevant extracts:
“ It has been published in the papers that orders
have been issued to Deputy Commissioners for the
preparation of the votor’s lists for the coming elec-
tions of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. In that
very connection, we beg to approach you with the
following :
1. That, according to the Poona Pact, made
between the High Caste Hindus and Depressed Class
Hindus, ratified by the Government, eight seats were
allotted in the Punjab Legislative Assembly to Hindu
Depressed Classes or Hindu Scheduled Castes as
they are called.
2. That these seats were deducted from the total
number of Hindu seats.
3. That the Sikh and Muslim Depressed Classes
or Scheduled Caste people, for instance Sikh Chamars
or Sikh Valmikis, having been counted amongst
their own co-religionists, could not become voters or
members in the above-named eight constituencies.
4. That great confusion is prevalent regarding the
third point.
5. That to ensure the right interpretation, and to
avoid objection petitions on a large scale, instructions
may very kindly be issued, not to enlist Sikhs as
voters in the above-named constituencies, or a column
of religion may also be added. "
The petitioners’ objection is quite sound. But
why should there be Sikh, Muslim or Christian
untouchables? Has the bait of power made the
converts repent of their conversion ? If the
problem is not carefully and justly handled, with
all-round growing consciousness it may give rise
to embarrassing complications. There need be no
surprise if to be classed among the chosen
Scheduled Classes becomes a coveted privilege
instead of being a sign of reproach. Time was
when those who were regarded by the Govern-
ment or society as untouchables resented the
appellation and were trying to avoid it. Now
the emphasis is the other way. Let it be remem-
bered in this connection that it is only Hinduism
that has the dishonour of having untouchables
legally known as Scheduled Classes.
Segaon, 12-2-40
Adulteration of Ghee
Dr. Kailas Nath Katju writes:
“ I have read with great interest in Harijan of
20th January your note on adulteration of ghee.
6
HARIJAN
[Febbuasy 17, 1940
It may interest you to know that before we
resigned office in the U. P. this problem had
engaged our closest consideration. Adulteration is
rampant and must be stopped. ■ The misfortune is
that it is -not only the ghee-dealer and the middle-
man who have taken to adulterations but even the
ghee producers in the villages are resorting to
adulteration in their own homes before they bring
ghee to the market. The cheap vanaspati and other
vegetable ghee so ^called make adulteration such an
easy process. We considered the question of com-
pulsory admixture of vegetable oils with some edible
colour or flavour, but the difficulty is to discover
some such harmless colour or flavour. In the hot
climate of India there is a danger of injury to
health by the use of such fast colour.
We had drafted and introduced in the U. P.
Legislature a comprehensive bill to stop this
mischief. It was at the committee stage when we
resigned. The bill confers power on the Provincial
Government to prescribe colouring or flavouring of
artificial ghee or vegetable oils. But I think the
more useful and really important provision in the bill
for the purpose in hand is that which arms the Pro-
vincial Government with the power to prohibit sale
of artificial or vegetable ghee in ghee-producing areas.
I have known of rural areas where ghee is produced
on a large scale and where practically no one
consumes vegetable ghee, yet vegetable ghee is sold in
huge quantities and purchased by people for purposes
of adulteration. We thought that in such areas where
vegetable ghee is really sold for these universal pur-
poses the only proper method is to prohibit its sale
altogether, and thus protect and foster the genuine
ghee industry.
I hope this measure will meet with your approval.
Agriculture without dairy industry cannot flourish. In
the U. P. we also encouraged the formation in large
numbers of ghee co-operative societies, and I insisted
that the bye-laws of such societies must have strin-
gent regulations to stop and check adulteration by its
members. That was also proving efficacious,
I am writing this to you in the hope that it
may interest the readers of Harijan"'
The suggestion made by Dr. Katju about
specially dealing with ghee producing areas is
worthy of consideration. Indeed the question of
adulteration of this important article of national
diet is so important that it requires all-India
treatment. It need not wait for disposal of the
so-called higher politics.
On the way to Delhi, 5-2-40 M. K. G.
To Correspondents and Message-seekers
In spite of my notice in Harijan of Decem-
ber 23rd those who can spare me continue to
write and ask for messages. I would refer them
to the notice for fuller explanation. I know
several intimate friends have not received acknow-
ledgments or messages. They will forgive me,
I have to harden, my heart, if I am to cope
with the responsibility I am carrying. And what
can be better than that I should commence with
known friends?
Segaon, 15-1-40 M. K. G,
EEDISCOVERIG RELIGION
II
“ One Fraternity ”
But what really shall we rediscover ? To
rediscover Christianity is to rediscover Religion,
When Gandhiji asks the Hindus to eradicate
from Hinduism the blot of untouchability he
appeals to them apparently to rediscover Hindu-
ism but really to rediscover Religion. It was an
agreeable surprise to me to find a lay poet like
John Drinkwater quoted in a Christian manifesto
the other day :
“We know the paths wherein our feet should press.
Across our hearts are written Thy decrees:
Yet now, O Lord, be merciful to bless
With more than these.
Grant us the will to fashion as we feel,
Grant us the strength to labour as we know,
Grant us the purpose, ribb’d and edged with steel,.
To strike the blow.
Knowledge we ask not — knowledge Thou hast lent,.
But, Lord, the will — there lies our bitter need.
Give us to build above the deep intent
The deed, the deed.”
That prayer of Drinkwater can be adopted by
people of all creeds. The poet in these and the
earlier stanzas expresses the feelings of us all-
Man is not so much in need of “ a clearer
vision ”, or of “ a fuller knowledge of the end ”,
'or of “the high perception” of “ when to re-
frain and when fulfil” or of “the understanding to-
sift the good from ill”. All these, men learned
in religious lore — Christian lore, Hindu lore,,
Islamic lore, Jewish lore — have in an ample
measure. What most of us lack, however, is the
will * to fashion as we feel the ‘ strength to
labour as we know what most of us lack so
badly is ‘ the deed, the deed’.
, And here I am reminded of the story . of
Rabbi Cohen, whom Woodrow Wilson called the
first citizen of Texas, told in an issue of the
American Readers' Digest. At the age of 75 he*
spends his time scurrying through the streets of
Galveston intent on errands of goodwill, “pre-
cisely as he has’ been from morning to night
for more than 50 years.” His hobby is to help
people, no matter what their race or creed. He*
seeks out men released from prison, he seeks*
out unthrifty people, patients .in hospital, and.
helps them. He rushes out of his office meeting
the waifs and strays. He has got their names
scribbled on the cuff of his sleeve which he
calls his note-book, and never retires to bed
until the last name is crossed off. “But Rabbi,”
his interviewer asks, “ there didn’t seem to be
many Jews on that list.” The Rabbi looks at
him and says: “ Why, no. There wasn’t onei
" What difference does that make? In this town
there is no such thing as Methodist mumps^
Baptist domestic troubles, Presbyterian poverty
or Catholic broken legs.” If he was in India,
he might have added : “ Hindu plague, Muslim
poverty, Jain cholera and so on.”
FEBEUARY 17, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
7
A Russian revolutionary, who had escaped
from Russia as a stowaway and was now in a
Galveston prison, sent a message to Rabbi Cohen
to say that he had learnt that his family was
starving and that he was to be deported on the
next ship, and that in Russia he would have
to face a firing squad. The immigration officer in
Galveston could do nothing, Washington could
do nothing, and yet something had to be done.
Rabbi Cohen bikes to the jail to see him, bikes
back, stops at a friend’s, borrows a hundred dollars
and catches a train for Washington. He peddles
down to the Department of Labour, where the
Secretary politely says nothing could be done.
He then rushes to President Taft who says to
him: “No exceptions* You Jews are wonderful.
I don’t know of any people who will do as
much for their own race and creed as you do.”
“My own creed!" exclaims Rabbi Cohen. “What
-do you mean, Mr. President? This man is not a
Jew! He is a Greek Catholic!” President Taft
jumps. “A Greek Catholic! You came all the
way from Texas to intercrede for a Greek Catho-
lic ? ’’ “ Certainly,’’ says the Rabbi, “ He is a
human being, isn’t he ? ’’ Taft is moved, he
immediately gives orders for the Russian revolu-
tionary’s release and for his being put in the
-custody of Rabbi Cohen. The Rabbi gets him a
pb in a boiler factory, and he eventually gets
his family out of Russia.
This humanitarian work to which the Rabbi
■devotes a third of his time has prompted the
•citizens of Galveston to build him the Cohen
Community House at a cost of 100,000 dollars.
Not that he has neglected his own community.
He has worked for Jewish refugees as none
else has done, and “ his refugee work was so
successful that during the trouble with Mexico
in 1913, Congress, on the recommendation of
the American Red Cross, voted 75,000 dollars
to the care for refugees from Mexico, to be
administered by Rabbi Cohen entirely at bis
discretion.”
He has revolutionised the prison conditions in
Texas and has even helped in setting aside
wrong convictions. He investigated the case
of a man called Sidney Porter, appealed to the
Governor, and months afterwards a man appeared
at Cohen’s door saying : “ I am Sidney Porter.
I can’t do anything now to pay you for what
you have done for me. But I am a writer. I
will write things to help your people.” He was
the distinguished story-writer O’Henry!
Rabbi Cohen goes to his congregation and
preaches too. But any great text is good enough
for him. “ Look at the golden rule in Confu-
cius,” he says. “ I would as soon preach on
a text from Confucius as the Talmud if the
truth is there” And so he is asked to speak in
the Protestant churches of Galveston, and
“every Protestant minister, and Catholic priest,
too, have spoken in the synagogue and the Henry
Cohen Community House.” And his example has
been infectious. The Jews are less than two
per cent in Galveston, and yet hundreds of
Catholics voted for a Jewish major. This Catholic
priest said to the writer of the sketch of Rabbi
Cohen : “ Why is it we judge a man in this
town not for his race or his creed, but for what
he is himself ? The answer is Rabbi Cohen."
That indeed is rediscovering Religion, When
we have rediscovered Religion by the grace of
God, then indeed will J. A. Symonds’ dream be
fulfilled. Then shall arise a loftier race of men
who
” Shall be gentle, brave and strong
To spill no drop of blood, but dare
All that may plant man’s lordship’s firm
On earth and fire and sea, and air.
Nation with nation, land with land
Unarmed shall live as comrades free;
In every heart and brain shall throb
The pulse of one fraternity.
New arts shall bloom of loftier mould
And mightier music thrill the skies
And ev'ery life shall be a song
When all the earth is paradise."
Gandhiji did not touch this aspect of the redis-
covery of Christianity when talking with Mr.
Smith, but when he asked him and his co-
workers to help in reconstructing future civilisa-
tion on surer foundations he meant all this.
New Delhi, 5-2-40 ' M. D.
THE QUESTION BOX
{By M. K. GandhO
Untruth in Law Courts
Q. I have followed with interest the contro-
versy that has grown round your article in •
Harijan “The Fourfold Ruin”. Whatever one
may say about the arguments used on either
side in this controversy, one thing I am in a
position to . assert without fear of contradiction,
from my experience as a judicial officer of the
present system of our law. Courts and the insti-
tution of lawyers are mainly responsible for the
moral and spiritual degradation of our village
peasantry in particular and the public in general.
Even ‘ respectable ’ people, whom one has learnt
to regard as the soul of honour in their ordi-
nary every-day life, will tell barefaced lies’ for
a trifle in a law court and think nothing of it.
The canker is eating into the vitals of our
village life. Would you suggest as to what a
person in my position ( viz. a judge ), who has
to record evidence and give judicial decisions,
can do to check this evil?
A. What you say is too true. The atmosphere
round law courts is debasing as any visitor
passing through them can see. I hold radical
views about the administration of justice. But
mine, I know, is a voice in the wilderness.’
Vested interests will not allow radical reform
unless India comes into her own through truthful
and non-violent means. If that glorious event
happens, the administration of law and ihedicine
will be as cheap and healthy as it is today dear
and unhealthy. The heroic advice will be for
8 HARIJAN [Februaey 17, 1940
you to descend from the bench, embrace poverty
and serve the poor. The prosaic will be for you
to do the best you can in the very difficult
circumstances in which you find yourself,
reduce life to its simplest terms and devote your
savings for the service of the poor,
Ahimsa v. Self-respect
Q. I am a university student. Yesterday
evening some of us went to a cinema show.
During the performance two of us went outside
leaving our handkerchiefs behind on our seats.
On our return we found that two British sol-
diers had taken possession of these seats un-
ceremoniously in spite of the clearest warning
and entreaty by otir friends. When requested to
vacate the seats they not only refused but
showed an inclination to fight. They browbeat
the cinema manager who, being Indian, was
easily cowed down. In the end the garrison
officer was called and they vacated their seats.
If he had not appeared, there would have been
only two alternatives before us, either to resort
to violence and maintain our self-respect, or to
allow ourselves to be browbeaten and quietly
occupy some other seat. The latter would
have been too humiliating. How would you
apply the principle of non-violence under such
circumstances ?
A. I must admit the difficulty of solving the
riddle. Two ways occur to me of dealing with
the situation non-violently. First, firmly to stand
the groimd till the seats are vacated; secondly,
deliberately so to stand as to obstruct the view
of the usurpers. In each case you run the risk
of being beaten by the usurpers. I am not satis-
fied with my answers. But they meet the special
circumstances in which we are placed. The ideal
answer no doubt is not to bother about the
usurpation of the personal right but to reason
with the usurpers and, if they do not listen, to
report such cases to the authorities concerned
and, in case of failure, take them to the high-
est tribunal. This is the constitutional method
which is not taboo in a non-violent conception
of society. Not to take the law into one’s own
hands is essentially a non-violent method. But the
ideal has no relation to reality in this country
because the index of expectation of justice for
Indians in cases where white men and specially
white soldiers are concerned is almost zero.
Hence it is necessary to resort something like
what I have st^geseed. But I know that when
we have real non-violence in us a non-violent
way out is bound, without effort, to occur to
us when we find ourselves in a difficult situation.
Students and the Coming Fight
Q. Although a college student I am a four
anna member of the Congress. You say I may
not take any active part in the coming struggle
whilst I am studying. What part do you expect
the student world to take in the freedom
movement ?
A. There is a confusion of thought in the. •
question. The fight is going on now and it will,
continue till the nation has come to her birth-
right. Civil disobedience is one of the many
methods of fighting. So far as I can judge
today, I have no intention of calling out
students. Millions will not take part in civil
disobedience. But millions will help in a variety
of ways.
1. Students can, by learning the art of volun-
tary discipline, fit themselves for leadership in
the various branches of the nation’s work.
2. They can aim not at finding lucrative
careers but at becoming national servants after
completing their studies.
3. They can set apart for the national coffers
a certain sum from their allowances.
4. They can promote intercommunal, inter-
provincial and intercaste harmony among them-
selves and fraternise with Harijans by abolishing
the least trace of untouchability from their lives,
5. They can spin regularly and use certified
khadi to the exclusion of all other cloth as
well as hawk khadi.
6. They can set apart a certain time every
week, if not every day, for service in a village
or villages nearest to their institutions and,
during the vacation, devote a certain time daily
for national service.
The time may of course come when it may
be necessary to call out the students as I did
before. Though the contingency is remote, it
will never come, if I have any say in the
matter, unless the students have qualified them-
selves previously in the manner above described.
Segaon, 12-2-40
TO AGENTS
Agents at times ask [us to send books, paper,
etc., in book post packets or railway parcels con-
taining copies of Harijan. This is not possible in
view of the fact that these packets and parcels,
being sent undfeir concession rates, can contain nothing
but copies of a registered newspaper. Agents will,
therefore, please not repeat this request nor expect
us to send them individual replies to this effect.
Manager.
Swadeshi — True and False
By Gandhiji & Others
Articles reprinted from Young India and Harijan.
Printed on handmade paper. ^ Foolscap 17 pages.
Price one anna; or two annas including postage.
Available at Harijan Office-Poona 4
CONTENTS Page
The Old Game? ... M. K. Gandhi 1
Occasional Notes ... M. D. 2
Is It War? ... M. K. Gandhi 4
Banging the Door ... M. K. Gandhi 4
Rediscovering Religion — II... M. D. 6
The Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 7
Notes :
India without the British... M. K. G. 5
A Curious Situation ... M. K. G. 5
Adulteration of Ghee ... M. K. G. 5
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4
Snbscriptioa Rate» — INLAND : One year, Bs. 4, Six months, Bs. 2-8, Foreign : One year, Bs. 5-8 or, 8 sh. or 2 S.
Reg. No. B 3092
Editor ; MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. VIII, No. 2 ] POONA — SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24. 1940 [ ONE ANNA
COMMUNAL DECISION
( By M. K. Gandhi )
During my brief stay in Bengal I have been
overwhelmed with questions on the Communal
Decision. I have been told that neither the
Working Committee nor I have pronounced
decisive opinion on it. The Working Com-
mittee’s decision is written in its records
and has been published. It has neither accepted
nor rejected the Decision. There can be neither
acceptance nor rejection of an imposed thing. A
prisoner is not required to accept the sentence
pronounced against him. His rejection would be
meaningless. For he would soon find himself
undeceived. The Communal Decision has been
imposed upon India not for her own good but
for strengthening the British Imperial hold on
India. The Working Committee has, therefore,
as much accepted and as much rejected the
Decision as Bengal has. There is this difference,
however, that the Working Committee has not
agitated against it like Bengal.
For me, I detest the Decision. It has benefited
no single party in India but the British. If the
Muslims flatter themselves with the belief that
they have profited by it, they will soon find
that they were sadly mistaken. If I could alter
the Decision and make it what it should be, I
should do so this very moment. But I have no
such power. The power can only come if there
is unity, Bengal is the most glaring instance of
injustice. I can conceive of no just reason for
putting the wedge of the tremendous European
vote between the two major communities. Their
number is insignificant. Their interest is pro-
tected by the British bayonet. Why should that
interest have added strength given to it by its
introduction in the legislature? I can understand
its representation without vote so as to enable
it to put its case before the legislature. So long
as it has the protection of the British bayonet,
its over-representation on the legislature is a
wholly unjust imposition. The whole face of
the Bengal legislature would be changed if
the European vote was withdrawn. Today that
legislature is - not wholly responsible to the
people, the real voters. The European bloc
*gives peace neither to the Muslims nor the
Hindus. Muslim ministers may flatter themselves
with the belief that they are safe with the
European vote. They may be safe as indivi-
duals, but the national interest cannot be stife if
a body of persons who are numerically insig-
nificant are given an artificially decisive voting
strength in a democratic assembly. It deprives
the latter of its democratic character.
Thus the evil contained in the Decision I
know. But I do not know how to deal with
it except by patient endeavour. This 1 do know
that there can be no real Swaraj so long as
that Decision stands. Bengal is a glaring instance
of the inequity. Assam is another. A critical
examination of the Decision would show that
it has very little to recommend itself from the
national standpoint. It can be altered either by
the British Government redressing the wrong or
by successful rebellion. I was going to add by
mutual agreement. But that seems an impossi-
bility even if Hindus and Muslims agreed. Euro-
peans have also to agree, and they have to agree
to self-abnegation — an event unknown in politics.
If there was self-abnegation, there would no
European interest in India which is hostile to
the national interest. He will he a bold man
who will assert and hope to prove that there was
in India no European interest hostile to the nation.
On the train to Calcutta, 19-2-40
QUESTION BOX
(By M. K. Gandhi )
Unity V. Justice
Q. In your article ‘ Unity v. Justice ’ you say
that, if you give more than his due to your
brother, you neither bribe him nor do you do
an injustice. You say: “ I can disarm suspicion
only by being generous. Justice without generosity
is done at the expense of the very cause for
which it is sought to be done.” I submit that
justice and generosity cannot go hand in hand.
As Dryden has rightly observed, “ Justice is
blind, it knows nobody.” Besides, you can be
generous to the weak, meek and the humble,
not to one who in the arrogance of his strength
seeks to coerce you into submission. To give
more than his due to such a person is not
generosity but cowardly surrender. Though Hindus
are numerically stronger, their majority, as you
yourself have pointed out, is only fictitious and
actually they are the weaker party. Besides, if
generosity is to be shown to the Muslims, the
only organisation that is. competent to offer it
is the Hindu Mahasabha. What right has a third
party to be generous to one of the two parties
to a dispute at the other party’s expense ?
A, In my article referred to by you I have
dealt with general principles, not with particular
minorities. Even as justice to be justice has to
10
HARIJAK
[ Februaey 24, 1940
be generous, generosity in order to justify itself
has got to be strictly just. Therefore it should
not be at the expense of any single interest.
Hence there cannot be any question of sacrific-
ing some minority or minorities, for the benefit
of any minority. You are right again in con-
tending that generosity has to be shown to the
weak and the humble, and not to the bully.
Nevertheless I would say, on behalf of the bully,
that even he is entitled to justice, for immediately
you brush aside the bully and be unjust to him
you justify his bullying. Thus the only safe —
not to put it higher — rule of conduct is to do
generous justice, irrespective of the character of
the minority. I am quite sure that where there
is strictest justice the question of majority and
minority would not arise. The bully is a portent
and is an answer to some existing circumstance,
as for instance cowardice. It is often forgotten
that cowardice can be unjust. The fact is that
cowards have no sense of justice. They yield
only to threat, or actual use, of force. I do not
know that there is any question of choice
between a coward and a bully. The one is as
bad as the other, with this difference that the
bully always follows the coward in point of time.
In a previous issue I have admitted that the
proper organisation to enter into settlements is
the Hindu Mahasabha, so far as Hindus are
concerned, or any such organisation. The Con-
gress endeavours to represent all communities.
It is not by design, but by the accident of
Hindus being politically more conscious than the
others, that the Congress contains a majority of
Hindus. As history proves the Congress is a joint
creation of Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Hindus,
led by Englishmen, be it said to the credit of
the latter. And the Congress, in spite of all
that may be said to the contrary, retains that
character. At the present moment a Muslim
divine is the unquestioned leader of the
Congress and for the , second time becomes its
president. The constant endeavour of Congressmen
has been to have as many members as possible
drawn from the various communities, and there-
fore the Congress has entered into pacts for
the purpose of securing national solidarity. It
cannot, therefore, divest itself of that function,
and therefore, although I have made the admis-
sion that the Hindu Mahasabha or a similar
Hindu organisation can properly have communal
settlements, the Congress cannot and must not
plead incapacity for entering into political pacts
so long as it commands general confidence.
On the train to Calcutta, 16-2-40
To Correspondents and Message-seekers
In spite of my notice in Harijan of Decem-
ber 23rd those who can spare me continue to
write and ask for messages. I would refer them
to the notice for fuller explanation. I know
several intimate friends have not received acknow-
ledgments or messages. They will forgive me.
I have to harden rny heart if I am to cope
with the responsibility^ I am carrying. And what
can be better than that I should commence with
known friends ? Segaon, 15-1-40 M. K. G.
OCCASIONAL NOTES
All for the Empire
In his recent Mansion House speech the
British Prime Minister said:
“ It is becoming increasingly clear that the German
Government has long planned the successive stages
of a programme of conquest, and that its appetite
grows by what it feeds upon. Today the members
of that Government do not hesitate to say that they
desire to achieve the ruin of the British Empire, and
no doubt they would rejoice if they could treat us
as they are treating the victims already within their
grip. We, on our side, have no such vindictive
designs. To put it about that the Allies desire the
annihilation of the German people is a fantastic and
malicious invention which could only be put forward
for home consumption. But, on the other hand, the
German people must realise that the responsibility
for the prolongation of this war and all the suffer-
ing that it may bring in the coming year is theirs
as well as that of the tyrants who stand over them.
They must realise that the desire of the Allies for
a social, human, just, Christian settlement cannot be
satisfied by assurances which experience has proved
to be worthless. ”
Apart from what “the vile” German Govern-
ment have done, is it not clear from this
statement that the war is being fought for the
preservation of the Empire? Germany has deva-
stated Poland and Russia Finland, but neither
has yet declared that her intention is to anni-
hilate Britain or the British people. The British
Empire is a different propositon altogether.
Is “ a social, human, just, Christian settlement ”
compatible with the existence and defence of
the Empire and the exploitation that it necessarily
means? Also is such “ a‘ social, human, just,
Christian settlement” possible while Britain retains
her Empire and imperialism? Evidently according
to Lord Zetland it is possible. So long as imperia-
lism lasts, it must excite the jealousy of the other
powers. If imperialism was really given up, there
would be no incentive to war on either side.
As things are, both the sides are equally to
blame for the prolongation of the war. For there
must be Christian conduct before a Christian
settlement becomes a possibility.
“ Not Gandhi or Nehru but Hitler ”
This was the heading of an “ unofficial note ”
passed for publication by the Information OflEcer:
In a recent issue the Rheinisch — Westfaelische
Zeitung of Essen ( Germany ) wrote ;
* Poor Englishmen ! They still live in . the illusion
that they can save their Empire. But the Empire
is crumbling to pieces.
‘India will soon be free from the yoke of the
white race. Nehru, the future Gandhi, who went to
school in Moscow, has said that England will shortly
see it. The fate of India, the fate of the British
Empire, will, however, not be decided in the far lands
overseas, but in Europe — when Germany has won
the war.”
It is rather difficult to see the point of this
note. We know that the British Government do
Febeuary 24, 1940 ] HAEIJAW li
not want Hitler to decide the fate of India or
of the British Empire. But do they not, or must
they not, want India to decide it? If they will
permit India to decide her fate, i, e, of the
Empire, Hitler may be successfully prevented
from taking the task upon himself. But if they
will not permit India to do so — Lord Zetland
has declared that he will not — the war is
automatically prolonged, and God alone knows
who will decide the fate of India and the Empire.
British arms have not availed to prevent the
devastation of Poland or of Finland. Is there any
certainty that they will prevail against further
ruin? On the other hand, is not the certainty
greater of war ending soon if and when Britain
has made a voluntary surrender of the Empire?
"An Infernal Nuisance*'
But there are all kinds of arguments advanced.
India's defence, her minority problem, her divi-
sions, etc., are all obstacles to her being given
a free hand to determine her constitution. There
were the same problems with respect to the
Dominions which now enjoy virtual independence,
but they were inhabited by people who had the
same colour of skin as the Britishers and so
the problems ceased to be regarded as obstacles.
What they will not voluntarily yield to a non-
violent India, they had to yield to the rebellious
whites in the Dominions. But evidently the
conscience of the British people has been roused,
and they ,see the justice of India’s case. For
Mr.. Vernon Bartlett wrote in The News Chronicle
brushing aside all the pleas that are trotted out:
“ But the Indian problem is as simple or as
complicated as you like to make it. There is no
part of this globe where the religious, racial and
economic difficulties give more scope to the obstruc-
tionist. As against that, few facts are simpler to
understand than that the effort by a few thousand
white men to keep under control some three
hundred and fifty million brown men is a lasting
and dangerous cause of unrest
How would you feel about it if you were to learn
from the newspapers that your Government had sud-
denly involved you in a war at the request of some
people on the other side of the globe, from whom
you differed in race, language, religion and even the
colour of your skin?
There are* millions of Indians ready to fight for
India, but why should we expect them all to be
ready to fight for British rule over India?
Because so many of them fought in the last war ?
But' their effort then has not brought them self-
government, although, while that war was still in
progress, the other Dominions achieved Home Rule.
We have — and let us admit it frankly — very
little more right to demand that the Indians should
fight for us than Hitler has to demand the self-
sacrifice of the Czechs.
And yet we very much need Indian, help, for,
man power apart, India is among the world’s largest
producers of a whole range of important . supplies —
manganese, mica, shellac, jule, cotton, rice, tea are
only some of them.
Almost more important is the effect of Indian
help on the neutrals. The largest meeting I ever
attended in New York was one to protest against
British rule in India.
It may be unfair, but it is undeniable that immense
harm would be done not only to our military
strength, but also to our hope of winning ever-
increasing neutral support in this war if the Chamber-
lain Government were to put into execution those
threats of force at which Sir Samuel Hoare so
unfortunately hinted in his speech from the Treasury
Bench.
That Indian help can be obtained. How, it is not
for me to suggest in detail. But we start off with a
valuable fact in our favour. The leaders of Congress
Party claim independence for India on the principle
of democratic self-determination — that means that
they are, ipso facto, allied to us against Hitlerism.
Or they will be as soon as they have any evi-
dence from the Viceroy’s treatment of their own
case that the British Government itself believes in
that principle. There is nothing like a common
foreign policy for smoothing out domestic differences.
Congress does not represent all India ? There are
minorities that must be protected ? But what party
anywhere represents a whole population ? Where are
there no minorities ? The Hindu-Moslem disputes
undoubtedly make the problem much more difficult,
but the difficulty will never be lessened ' if we in
Great Britain make Home Rule of India dependent
upon their disappearance
The obvious truth about India is that she will be
an infernal nuisance until she has self-government..
She is growing up as a political entity in the
modern world. She has reached that stage when
she would rather make a mess of things by govern-
ing herself than be better governed by others. Any
people passing through that stage needs sympathy,
and is grateful for it.
If our Government would shorten the period of
strain, then there would be^a million Indians anxious
to help the British Empire in its gravest struggle.*'
Why Not Dominion Status?
No one will accuse Shri Ramananda Chatterji,
the veteran journalist, of extreme views. This
is what he says on the issue of Dominion
Status in The Modern Review for February: -
“ If any person were to ask the present writer,
* Would you be satisfied with Dominion Status ?* he
would be constrained to answer ‘ No ’. For a large
and ancient country like India with a civilization of
its own to become the Dominion of another coun-
try inhabited by a different people with a different
civilization, culture traditions and history, cannot be
admitted as a natural, or right development. The
white people of Australia or New Zealand may
agree to their countries being Dominions of their
Mother country. The people of Canada of British
stock may have similar feelings. As people of Eurp-
pean extraction the French Canadians may not be
dissatisfied with being the citizens of a British
Dominion We who are neither of British nor of
any other European extraction cannot be accused
of any unnatural sentiment if we be not satis.
HARIJAN
270
[ September 1, 1940
ANDREWS MEMORIAL
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A friend, who is himself trying to collect
for the Andrews Memorial, has written a letter
from which I take the following relevant
paragraphs ;
‘‘ As I read it there are four objects of the appeal
( you will kindly ' correct me, if I am wrong ) :
(i) Ensuring the permanence of the present establi-
shed work by an endowment to enable Santinikelan
to fulfil Andrews ’ high hopes for it, unhampered
by the constant financial anxiety with which it is
now burdened.
This is obviously the first need, for it would be
doubtful wisdom to add new developments to an
institution which itself is insecure. At the same time
the amount required for this purpose is nowhere
specified.
If there is a sufficiently generous response to the
appeal, providing more than is required for this first
need, then it will be possible to go on to the other
three parts of the scheme, viz.
( ii ) A small but properly equipped hospital ;
(iii) The provision of ‘ Deenabandhu wells* in the
district ;
( iv ) The provision of the Hall of Christian culture.
Now, if I am right in this, it must surely occur
to the reader of the appeal that, if, as seems likely,
the institution requires a considerable sum for its
endowment fund, the chances that any contributions
made now will actually be available for either of the
second, third or fourth part of the scheme are some-
what remote. It is not stated whether contributors
are allowed to earmark their gifts for any of the
special objects in the scheme; and obviously, if a
large proportion of contributors did so, the primary
object of the appeal — the placing of Santinikelan
on a sound basis financially — may be defeated.
My second difficulty was about the statement of
the aims, and I had in view particularly those of
the proposed hall of Christian culture, in which I am
naturally interested.
That is first described as providing for India*s
thought contact with the Western world, on the
analogy of the ‘Cheena Bhavan’ and China, This
suggests a doubtful identification of ‘Christian culture*
and ‘ W estern culture. ’
The statement then goes on to speak of (a) the
application of the teaching and character of Christ to
international problems, and (b) the task of interpret-
‘ing in Eastern modes of thought the spirit and
mind of Christ.
What we have, therefore, seems to be three rather
different aims, all very important and relevant.
Perhaps it may be necessary to leave it in this
rather wide form; and yet I cannot help thinking
that a more careful wording might make clear the
relation of the other two aspects of the aim to that
which is described as the ‘central purpose*.
Thirdly, I raised the question of trustees and a
sound basis for confidence in the future running of
the scheme. If I understand your letter rightly, the
trustees of this special fund are to be the trustees
^ Santiniketan and Sriniketan, mentioned at the end
of the appeal. The appeal itself does not seem tc
make this clear.
Does this imply that the disposal and allocation of
the special fund raised is directly in the hands of
these trustees of Santiniketan, so that, in effect, the
fund becomes an additional part of the corpus of
the Trust ?
It seemed to me that for a scheme of the impor-
tance and magnitude of that contemplated in the
appeal there would be a place for some special
committee or body of trustees related a little more
definitely both to the special objects and to the
wider interests to which the appeal will extend. **
The enquiry is pertinent and deserves a proper
answer. As I happen to be one of the signa-
tories to the appeal for funds, what I write may
be taken as authoritative. The present trustees
have made a rough calculation of the expenses
in connection with the three definite additions
to Santiniketan. After providing for them, a
surplus is expected to be available which will
go into the general funds. But naturally these
three items will have precedence. Nevertheless .
it is open to donors to earmark their funds
for any of the three additions, and the money
will be so used. Therefore there need be no
apprehension about the additions, whether dona-
tions are earmarked or not. If I may let out
a secret, I may say that the general appeal was
my idea. Gurudev, who first thought of tlie
memorial being identified with Santiniketaiii, had
in mind only two things — the hospital and . the
hall, the latter being the suggestion of a Christian
friend. Deenabandhu wells were to be built out
of Santiniketan funds. Taking the cue from
Gurudev, I felt there should be no hesitation
whatsoever in identifying the whole of Santi-
niketan with Andrews’ memory. The Poet is a
host in himself. He has an established inter-
national fame which will grow with time.
Nevertheless Andrews was its best advertiser.
Gurudev has no advertising ability. He simply
works, wishes, and then leaves his wishes
to fate. Not so the practical Englishman.
He felt attracted to the Poet, and found his
peace and permanent abode in Santiniketan.
England was his birth-place; he never tore
himself away from her. But his soul found its
full expression and home in Santiniketan, and
I know, because I was his co-workcr, that he
went literally from door to door in order to
get funds for Santiniketan. And he would often
say to me : ‘ Never mind Santiniketan, but you
must get so much money for me. You know
what Santiniketan means to me and what the
Poet means to the world.’ And I succumbed tc
his advance whenever he made it, even though
I could ill afford the time. His love for Santi-
niketan was greater — I say this without any
offence to anyone living in Santiniketan — than
theirs. It was certainly as great as the Poet’s,
and Santiniketan, as it is at present, is due
as much to Andrews as to the Poet. Probably
Andrews was the more persistent of the two.
September 1, 1940 ] HAEIJAN 271
With this knowledge at the back of my
mind I had no hesitation in suggesting that the
appeal should be general. Hence I would say
to would-be donors that they would miss the
central fact of the memorial if they detached the
three additions from Santiniketan. For the three
together would be a poor memorial to Deena-
bandhu if Santiniketan were no more. And let
me say at once that Santiniketan wdll never
owe its permanence to the five lakhs that may
be collected. It will be permanent because
the Poet has breathed life into it and the
spirit of Andrews hovers over it. If it keeps
up the character imparted to it by its founders,
including Andrews, it will never die.
The second difficulty is easily answered. The
interpretation of Christ in the Hall of Christian
culture will bear the imprint of the Poet’s all-
embracing soul, and therefore Christian culture,
as it will flourish in Santiniketan, will never
be exclusive. Much will depend upon the Christ-
ians who might be attracted to Santiniketan. A
more careful wording in defining the scope of
the Hall of Christian culture was not possible,
was not intended. I suggest to my correspondent
that such matters are better left in a liquid
state. Who shall say what the future has in
store for any of the big things of the world ?
The third difficulty is also easily disposed of.
It had occurred even to me, but I felt that it
would not be right to create a new trust for
the memorial funds. The names of the present
trustees arc given in the appeal. If they are good
enough to be made responsible for the manage-
ment of the vast international Estate, called
Santiniketan and Sriniketan, they might well be
entrusted with the additional responsibility of
dealing with the funds that may be collected
for the memorial.
Finally I may mention that the response hither-
to made through the memorial appeal has been
very poor. I know that the organisation of the
fund rests principally upon my shoulders. I have
done nothing in the hope that Deenabandhu’s
solid work for submerged humanity would need
no organised effort, and that it would evoke
spontaneous response. I have not yet lost that
hope. I publish the meagre list of donations
hitherto received. The reader will notice, as I
have noticed, that as yet there is no collection
from the student world nor any coppers from
the labour world.
Sevagram, 27 8 ‘10
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NON-VIOLENT CRAFTS
The joint meeting of the A. 1. S. A. and the
Gandhi Seva Sangh that was held last June discussed
several questions relating to a wider understand-
ing of the economics of khadi. At one sitting
Gandhiji spoke at length about the non-violent
aspect of the development of handicrafts. ‘‘As,”
he said, “ a non-violent man’s actions will all
be coloured by non-violence, his occupational
activity will necessarily be non-violent. Strictly
speaking, no activity and no industry is possible
without a certain amount of violence, no matter
how little. Even the very process of living is
impossible without a certain amount of vio-
lence. What we have to do is to minimise it
to the greatest extent possible. Indeed the very
word non-violence, a negative word, means that
it is an effort to abandon the violence that is
inevitable in life. Therefore whoever believes
in ahimsa will engage himself in occupations
that involve the least possible violence. Thus,
for instance, one cannot conceive of a man be-
lieving in non-violence carrying on the occupa-
tion of a butcher. Not that a meat-eater cannot
be non-violent — there are many among meat-
eaters who are better observers of non-violence
than those who abstain from meat, e. g. Deena-
bandhu Andrews — but even a meat-eater
believing in non-violence will not go in for
shikar, and he will not engage in war or war
preparations. Thus there are many activities
and occupations which necessarily ' involve
violence and must be eschewed by a non-
violent man. But there is agriculture without
which life is impossible, and which does involve
a certain amount of violence. The determining
factor therefore is — is the occupation founded on
violence? But since all activity involves some
measure of violence, all we have to do is to
minimise the violence involved in it. This is
not possible without a heart-belief in non-
violence. Suppose there is a man who docs
no actual violence, who labours for his bread,
but who is always consumed with envy at
other people’s wealth or prosperity. He is not
non-violent. A non-violent occupation is thus that
occupation which is fundamentally free from
violence and which involves no exploitation or
envy of others.
“Now I have no historical proof, but I believe
that there was a time in India when village
economics were organised on the basis of such
non-violent occupations, not on the basis of the
rights of man but on the duties of man. Those
who engaged themselves in such occupations did
earn their living, but their labour contributed
to the good of the community. A carpenter,
for instance, ministered to the needs of the
village farmer. He got no cash payment but was
paid in kind by the villagers. There could be
injustice even in this system, but it would be
reduced to a minimum. I speak from personal
knowledge of tho
5i68
HARiJAN
[ September l, 1940
NON-VIOLENCE OF THE BRAVE
{By M* K. Gandhi )
A correspondent writes:
“You say non-violence is for the brave, not for
cowards. But, in my opinion, in India the brave are
conspicuous by their absence. Even if we claim to be
brave, how is the 'world to believe us when it knows
that India has no arms and is therefore incapable
of defending herself? What then should we do to
cultivate non-violence of the brave?”
The correspondent is wrong in thinking that
in India the brave are conspicuous by their
absence. It is a matter for shame that because
foreigners once labelled us as cowards we should
accept the label. Man often becomes what he
believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to
myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is
possible that I may end by really becoming
incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I
have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely
acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not
have it at the beginning. Again it is wrong
to say that the world today believes us to be
cowards. It has ceased to think so since the
satyagraha campaign. The Congress prestige has
risen very high in the West diuring the past
twenty years. The world is watching with
astonished interest the fact that although we
have no arms we are hoping to win Swaraj,
and have indeed come very near it. Moreover,
it sees in our non-violent movement rays of
hope for peace in the world and its salvation
from the hell of carnage. The bulk of mankind
has come to believe that, if ever the spirit of
revenge is to vanish and bloody wars are to
cease, the happy event can happen only through
the policy of non-violence adopted by the
Congress. The correspondent’s fear and suspicion
are, therefore, unfounded.
It will now be seen that the fact that India
is unarmed is no obstacle in the path of ahimsa.
The forcible disarmament of India by the British
Government was indeed a grave wrong and a
cruel injustice. But we can turn even injustice
to our advantage if God be with us, or if
you prefer, we have the skill to do so. And
such a thing has happened in India.
Arms are surely unnecessary for a training in
ahimsa. In fact the arms, if any, have to be
thrown away, as the Khansaheb did in the
Frontier Province. Those who hold that it is
essential to learn violence before we can learn
non-violence, would hold that only sinners can
be saints.
Just as one must learn the art of killing in
the training for violence, so one must learn the
art of dying in the training for non-violence.
Violence does not mean emancipation from fear
but discovering the means of combating the
cause of fear. Non-violence, on the other hand,
has no cause for fear. The votary of non-
violence has to cultivate the capacity for sacrifice
of the highest type in order to be free from
fear. He recks not if he should lose his land,
his wealth, his life. He who has not overcome
all fear cannot practise ahimsa to perfection. The
votary of ahimsa has only one fear, that is of
God. He who seeks refuge in God ought to
have a glimpse of the Atman that transcends the
body; and the moment one has a glimpse of the
Imperishable Atman one sheds the love of the
perishable body. Training in non-violence is thus
diametrically opposed to training in violence.
Violence is needed for the protection of things
external, non-violence is needed for the protec-
tion of the Atman, for the protection of one’s
honour.
This non-violence cannot be learnt by staying
at home. It needs enterprise. In order to test
ourselves we should learn to dare danger and
death, mortify the flesh and acquire the capacity
to endure all manner of hardships. He who
trembles or takes to his heels the moment he
sees two people fighting is not non-violent, but
a coward. A non-violent person will lay down
his life in preventing such quarrels. The bravery
of the non-violent is vastly superior to that of
the violent. The badge of the violent is his
weapon — spear, or sword, or rifle. God is the
shield of the non-violent.
This is not a course of training for one in-
tending to learn non-violence. But it is easy to
evolve one from the principles I have laid down.
It will be evident from the foregoing that
there is no comparison between the two types
of bravery. The one is limited, the other is
limitless. There is no such thing as out-daring
or out-fighting non-violence. Non-violence is
invincible. There need be no doubt that this
non-violence can be achieved. The history of
the past twenty years should be enough to
reassure us.
Sevagram, 27-8-40
( Translated from Gujarati )
QUESTION BOX
{By M. K- Gandhi)
A. L S. A, Employees
Q. The Secretary of the Bhiwani Congress
committee asks : Is there a ban on A. 1. S- A.
employees as far as signing the satyagraha pledge
is concerned? They fulfil all the conditions of
the pledge, but they may not offer themselves
for jail without the permission of the A. L S. A.,
and therefore they cannot sign the form. Is it
then permissible for them to retain their
membership of Congress executive committees,
or should they resign from them?
A. Your interpretation of the rule of the
A. I. S. A. is correct. No one can work in
two spheres at the same time. The work of
the A. I. S. A. too is Congress work. None
September 1, 1940 ] HAEIJAN
.of its employees can be allowed to court
imprisonment. His absence must harm khadi.
Therefore, granted that the rule is necessary, it
is plain that no A. I. S. A. employee may remain
, a member of a Congress committee. The entire
* committee may be arrested, or if the com-
mittee so desires, it can order any of its
members to court imprisonment.
( Translated from Hindustani )
Uncertified Khadi
Q. The Secretary also asks: Members of Con-
gress local executive committees sometimes sell
uncertified khadi. They give the same wages to
spinners and weavers as the A. I. S. A. Only
their khadi is not certified. According to Con-
. gress rules are they entitled to remain on
Congress committees or should they resign from
. them ?
A. In my opinion they are not entitled to
membership of Congress committees. The official
.answer must be officially secured. If it is correct
that they give the same wages to spinners and
weavers, why do they not get the necessary
■ certificate from the A. I. S. A. ?
( Translated from Hindustani )
How to Convert Atheists
Q. How can one convert atheists to belief
in God and religion?
A. There is only one way. The true servant
-of God can convert the atheist by means of his
- own purity and good conduct. It can never be
done by argument. Innumerable books have been
written to prove the existence of God, and if
.argument could have prevailed, there would not
be a single atheist in the world today. But the
opposite is the case. In spite of all the literature
on the subject, atheism is on the increase. Often,
however, the man who calls himself an atheist
is not one in reality; and the converse also is
•equally true. Atheists sometimes say, “If you
.are believers, then we are unbelievers.” And they
have a right to say so, for self-styled believers
.are often not so in reality. Many worship God
because it is the fashion to do so or in order
to deceive the world. How can such persons
have any influence on atheists ? Therefore let
the believer realise and have the faith that, if
he is true to God, his neighbours will instinct-
ively not be atheists. Do not let him be
troubled about the whole world. Let us
.remember that atheists exist by the sufferance
<of God, How truly has it been said that those
who worship God in name only are not believers
but those who do His will!
( Translated from Hindustani )
Living Wage
Q. You once wrote in Harijan to the effect
that villagers are at liberty to buy yarn spun
in their own villages without reference to the
living wage, and that the A. 1. S. A. should
let them go their way in this matter. Are
those who wear khadi woven from such yarn
eligible as Congress delegates ? And what is the
village worker to do in this regard ? He natur-
ally does propaganda in favour of a living
wage. There are always a certain number of
villagers who buy A. I. S. A. khadi, but at the
same time there are many who cannot afford to
do so. And even if they pay less than the
living wage, there is no doubt that the spinners
get some relief and khadi finds a certain place
in village life too. Is the village worker there
to encourage such khadi ?
A. If we were always careful enough not to
read into a writer’s sentences a meaning which
defeats his very purpose, such questions would
rarely arise. Where no wages are paid and the
yarn is self-spun, no ban of any kind can be
applied. It is of course assumed that the
A. I. S. A. rule is not broken on a false plea of
self-sufficiency. The same applies to the village
worker.
But there is one important issue raised in
your questions. The A. L S. A. worker in a
particular village cannot pay a living wage if
he is to use the village khadi. Therefore he
will buy yarn at a lesser rate and give some
work to the spinners who would otherwise get
nothing. But he may not become a member of
the Congress. He will serve the Congress from
without. Sometimes such persons serve the Con-
gress far better, and they are moreover saved
from the ambitions that membership often
carries with it. It is clear that such khadi
cannot be sold outside the village. It should
all be absorbed locally. The moment uncertified
khadi is put into the market the A. 1. S. A.
law is broken and real khadi receives a setback.
The A. I. S. A. is labouring under great stress
in trying to raise the spinners’ wages. Never
in the world have I heard of wages being
increased from one or two pice to 8 or 12
pice per day without the wage-earners having
asked for a rise in pay. The A. 1. S. A. has
done monumental work in this matter.
(Translated from Hindustani^
Will It Fail ? .
Q. You say that the Congress is not cent
per cent non-violent today. If that is so, will
not ’a satyagraha movement launched by it be
unsuccessful ?
A. It is not possible for a large popular
organisation like the Congress to be wholly non-
violent, for the simple reason that all its members
cannot have attained a standard level of non-
violence. But it is perfectly possible for some
of its members, who truly understand the impli-
cations of pure ahimsa and observe its law in
their lives, to lead a successful satyagraha move-
ment. This truth has even been demonstrated
so far by the Congress.
Sevagram, 27-8-40 ( Translated from Gujarati).
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0
Postage 8 As, Available at Harijan office-Poona 4.
Empire or Democracy ? by L. Barnes.
Price Rs. 5-10 + Postage 4 Annas.
270
HAEIJAN
[ September 1, 1940
ANDREWS MEMORIAL
( By M, K. Gandhi )
A friend, who is himself trying to collect
for the Andrews Memorial, has written a letter
from which I take the following relevant
paragraphs :
As I read it there are four objects of the appeal
(you will kindly correct me, if I am wrong):
(i) Ensuring the permanence of the present establi-
shed work by an endowment to enable Santinikelan
to fulfil Andrews’ high hopes for it, unhampered
by the constant financial anxiety with which it is
now burdened.
This is obviously the first need, for it would be
doubtful w^isdoin to add new developments to an
institution which itself is insecure. At the same time
the amount required for this purpose is nowhere
specified.
If there is a sufficiently generous response to the
appeal, providing more than is required for this first
need, then it will be possible to go on to the other
three parts of the scheme, viz.
f ii ) A small but properly equipped hospital ;
{ iii ) The provision of * Deenabandhu wells ’ in the
district ;
{ iv ) The provision of the Hall of Christian culture.
Now, if I am right in this, it must surely occur
to the reader of the appeal that, if, as seems likely,
the institution requires a considerable sum for its
endowment fund, the chances that any contributions
made now will actually be available for either of the
second, third or fourth part of the scheme are some-
what remote. It' is not stated whether contributors
are allow'ed to earmark tlieir gifts for any of the
special objects in the scheme; and obviously, if a
large proportion of contributors did so, the primary
object of the appeal — the placing of Santiniketan
on a sound basis financially — may be defeated.
My second difficulty was about the statement of
the aims, and I had in view particularly those of
the proposed hall of Christian culture, in which I am
naturally interested.
That is first described as providing for India’s
thought contact with the Western world, on the
analogy of the ‘Cheena Bhavan’ and China. This
suggests a doubtful identification of ‘Christian culture’
and ‘Western culture.’
The statement then goes on to speak of ( a ) the
application of the teaching and character of Christ to
international problems, and (b) the task of interpret-
ing in Eastern modes of thought the spirit and
mind of Christ.
What we have, therefore, seems to be three rather
different aims, all very important and relevant.
Perhaps it may be necessary to leave it in this
rather wide form; and yet I cannot help thinking
that a more careful wording might make clear the
relation of the other two aspects of the aim to that
which is described as the ‘central purpose’.
Thirdly, I raised the question of trustees and a
sound basis for confidence in the future running of
the scheme. If I understand your letter rightly, the
trustees of this special fund are to be the trustees
Santiniketan and Sriniketan, mentioned at the end
of the appeal. The appeal itself does not seem tc
make this clear.
Does this imply that the disposal and allocation of
the special fund raised is directly in the hands of
these trustees of Santiniketan, so that, in effect, the
fund becomes an additional part of the corpus of
the Trust ?
It seemed to me that for a scheme of the import
tance and magnitude of that contemplated in the
appeal there would be a place for some special
committee or body of trustees related a little more
definitely both to the special objects and to the
wider interests to which the appeal will extend. ”
The enquiry is pertinent and deserves a proper
answer. As I happen to be one of the signa-
tories to the appeal for funds, what I write may
be taken as authoritative. The present trustees
have made a rough calculation of the expenses
in connection with the three definite additions
to Santiniketan. After providing for them, a
surplus is expected to be available which will
go into the general funds. But naturally these
three items will have precedence. Nevertheless
it is open to donors to earmark their funds
for any of the three additions, and the money
will be so used. Therefore there need be no
apprehension about the additions, whether dona-
tions are earmarked or not. If I may let out
a secret, I may say that the general appeal was
my idea. Gurudev, who first thought of the
memorial being identified with Santiniketan, had
in mind only two things — the hospital and . the
hall, the latter being the suggestion of a Christian,
friend. Deenabandhu wells were to be built out
of Santiniketan funds. Taking the cue from
Gurudev, I felt there should be no hesitation
whatsoever in identifying the whole of Santi-
niketan with Andrews’ memory. The Poet is a
host in himself. He has an established inter-
national fame which will grow with time.
Nevertheless Andrews was its best advertiser.
Gurudev has no advertising ability. He simply
works, wishes, and then leaves his wishes
to fate. Not so the practical Englishman,
He felt attracted to the Poet, and found his
peace and permanent abode in Santiniketan.
England was his birth-place; he never tore
himself away from her. But his soul found its
full expression and home in Santiniketan, and
I know, because I was his co-worker, that he
went literally from door to door in order to
get funds for Santiniketan. And he would often
say to me: ‘Never mind Santiniketan, but you
must get so much money for me. You know
what Santiniketan means to me and what the
Poet means to the world.’ And I succumbed tc
his advance whenever he made it, even though
I could ill afford the time. His love for Santi-
niketan was greater — I say this without any
offence to anyone living in Santiniketan — than
theirs. It was certainly as great as the Poet’s,
and Santiniketan, as it is at present, is due
as much to Andrews as to the Poet. Probably
Andrews was the more persistent of the two.
September l, 1940 ] HARIJAN '271
With this knowledge at the back of Iny
mind I had no hesitation in suggesting that the
appeal should be general. Hence I would say
to would-be donors that they would miss the
central fact of the memorial if they detached the
three additions from Santiniketan. For the three
together would be a poor memorial to Deena-
bandhu if Santiniketan were no more. And let
me say at once that Santiniketan will never
owe its permanence to the five lakhs that may
be collected. It will be permanent because
the Poet has breathed life into it and the
spirit of Andrews hovers over it. If it keeps
up the character imparted to it by its founders,
including Andrews, it will never die.
The second diflSculty is easily answered. The
interpretation of Christ in the Hall of Christian
culture will bear the imprint of the Poet’s all-
embracing soul, and therefore Christian culture,
as it will flourish in Santiniketan, will never
be exclusive. Much will depend upon the Christ-
ians who might be attracted to Santiniketan. A
more careful wording in defining the scope of
the Hall of Christian culture was not possible,
was not intended. I suggest to my correspondent
that such matters are better left in a liquid
state. Who shall say what the future has in
store for any of the big things of the world?
The third difficulty is also easily disposed of.
It had occurred even to me, but I felt that it
would not be right to create a new trust for
the memorial funds. The names of the present
trustees are given in the appeal. If they are good
enough to be made responsible for the manage-
ment of the vast international Estate, called
Santiniketan and Sriniketan, they might well be
entrusted with the additional responsibility of
dealing with the funds that may be collected
for the memorial.
Finally I may mention that the response hither-
to made through the memorial appeal has been
very poor. I know that the organisation of the
fund rests principally upon my shoulders. I have
done nothing in the hope that Deenabandhu s
solid work for submerged humanity would need
no organised effort, and that it would evoke
■spontaneous response. I have not yet lost that
hope. I publish the meagre list of donations
hitherto received. The reader will notice, as I
have noticed, that as yet there is no collection
from the student world nor any coppers from
the labour world.
Sevagram, 27-8-40
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NON-VIOLENT CEAFTS
The joint meeting of the A. 1. S. A. and the
Gandhi Seva Sangh that was held last June discussed
several questions relating to a wider understand-
ing of the economics of khadi. At one sitting
Gandhiji spoke at length about the non-violent
aspect of the development of handicrafts. “As,”
he said, “ a non-violent man’s actions will all
be coloured by non-violence, his occupational
activity will necessarily be non-violent. Strictly
speaking, no activity and no industry is possible
without a certain amount of violence, no matter
how little. Even the very process of living is
impossible without a certain amount of vio-
lence. What we have to do is to minimise it
to the greatest extent possible. Indeed the very
word non-violence, a negative word, means that
it is an effort to abandon the violence that is
inevitable in life. Therefore whoever believes
in ahimsa will engage himself in occupations
that involve the least possible violence. Thus,
for instance, one cannot conceive of a man be-
lieving in non-violence carrying on the occupa-
tion of a butcher. Not that a meat-eater cannot
be non-violent — there are many among meat-
eaters who are better observers of non-violence
than those who abstain from meat, e. g. Deena-
bandhu Andrews — but even a meat-eater
believing in non-violence will not go in for
shikar, and he will not engage in war or war
preparations. Thus there are many activities
and occupations which necessarily involve
violence and must be eschewed by a non-
violent man. But there is agriculture without
which life is impossible, and which does involve
a certain amount of violence. The determining
factor therefore is — is the occupation founded on
violence ? But since all activity involves some
measure of violence, all we have to do is to
minimise the violence involved in it. This is
not possible without a heart-belief in non-
violence. Suppose there is a man who does
no actual violence, who labours for his bread,
but who is always consumed with envy at
other people’s wealth or prosperity. He is not
non-violent. A non-violent occupation is thus that
occupation which is fundamentally free from
violence and which involves no exploitation or
envy of others.
“ Now I have no historical proof, but I believe
that there was a time in India when village
economics were organised on the basis of such
non-violent occupations, not on the basis of the
rights of man but on the duties of man. Those
who engaged themselves in such occupations did
earn their living, but their labour contributed
to the good of the community, A carpenter,
for instance, ministered to the needs of the
village farmer. He got no cash payment but was
paid in kind by the villagers. There could be
injustice even in this system, but it would be
reduced to a minimum. I speak from personal
knowledge of the life in Kathiawad of over
272
HAEIJAN
[ September l, 1940
people’s eyes, and more life in their limbs, than
you find today. It was a life founded on
unconscious ahimsa.
“ Body labour was at the core of these occu-
pations and industries, and there was no large
scale machinery. For when a man is content to
own only so much land as he can till with his
own labour, he cannot exploit others. Handicrafts
exclude exploitation and slavery. Large scale
machinery concentrates wealth in the hands of
one man who lords it over the rest who slave
for him. For he may be trying to create ideal
conditions for his workmen, but it is none the
less exploitation which is a form of violence.
When I say that there was a time when
society was based not on exploitation but on
justice, I mean to suggest that truth and ahimsa
were not virtues confined to individuals but
were practised by communities. To me virtue
ceases to have any value if it is cloistered
or possible only for individuals.’'
Sevagram, 26-8-40 M. D.
Notes
Sindh
The position of Congressmen in Sindh is by
no means enviable. They have a most diflicult
time before them. Their non-violence, if they
have it in them, has not benefited those who
live in fear of their lives. It is true that no
one else has helped them. I warned them at
the very outset that they must learn the art
of helping themselves as others do, or by non-
violence as Congressmen are supposed or expect-
ed to do. In some places they ate organising
national guards. Those who do, look up to
Congressmen for help and guidance. For the
latter have been their helpers and guides hither-
to. Some Congressmen feel that without any
intention themselves of taking up arms they
can put courage into the people, if they train
them in the art of self-defence whether with or
without arms. The question has attained impor-
tance and demands immediate answer in view
of the unequivocal resolution of the A. I, C. C.
recently held at Poona. I am quite clear that
no Congressman, so long as he is even a four
anna member of the Congress, can take part
in organising or aiding self-defence groups with-
out committing a breach of the Poona resolu-
tion. But I am equally clear that it is the duty
of those Congressmen who feel the need for
helping self-defence groups and have the capa-
city for doing so, to, go to the rescue of the
terror-stricken men. This they can do by
resigning their membership of the Congress. By
doing so they will enhaiKe the prestige of the
Congress and their own usefulness. The fact
that they feel the call to . help is the decisive
factor in determining their course of action.
Peaceful Methods?
A correspondent sends a leaflet published by-
the Madras Provincial War Committee and:
printed at the Government Press, which enu-
merates the seven “great ideals” for which
“war is being waged” today by England. The
second of the ideals runs thus :
“The ideals for which England is fighting are the*
ideals of India. Our philosophy of life, our traditions
of domestic and international policy have had:
Peace for its ideal — as exemplified in the teaching
of the Lord Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.
Peaceful methods and tolerance — as the means of
political progress and international relations, as
symbolised by the policy of India’s ideal king Asoka.
In fighting with England we shall be fighting for
what we hold most precious in our own national-
heritage.**
My correspondent says these leaflets are issued
in the provincial languages and are widely dis-
tributed among the villagers. I suggest to the-
Madras War Committee that they remove clause
2 altogether as being untrue. For my ideal as put
before the British people is well known. If Lord
Buddha was on earth in the body at this-
moment, such a war would be impossible. It*
is a travesty of truth to call English methods,
methods of peace. Asoka's is perhaps the only
instance of a great king having voluntarily aban-
doned war and adopted peaceful methods.
It is no reflection on the British people that
they do not accept my advice or follow Asoka’S'
way. These things cannot be done mechanically.
But it is not right to give them the credit*
they do not deserve or want. Well may the
British people who read the leaflet say: ‘Save,
us from our friends. ’
Sevagram, 28-8-40 M, K. G.
NOTICE
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price per copy is one anna, and in places where
we have agents readers can arrange to get copies,
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CONTENTS
PAGE
My Idea or a Police Force...
M. K. Gandhi 265
An Interesting Discourse-II
M. D.
266
Andrews Memorial Fund ...
267
Non-violence of the Brave
M. K. Gandhi
268
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi
268
Andrews Memorial
M. K. Gandhi
270'
Non-violent Crafts
Notes ;
M, D.
271
Sindh
M. K. G,
272
Peaceful Methods?
M. K. G.
272.
Printed and Published hy Vithal -Hari B^ve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
Reg. No. B. 3092
o
o
Editor : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. VIII No. 30 ] POONA — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
AHIMSA IN DAILY LIFE
A Merchant's Story
If we once make up our minds to examine
ourselves at every step, we shall find that we
frequently infringe the law of ahimsa, and that
we should be ever so much happier if we
were vigilant. The need for the soft answer that
tumeth away wrath arises every moment, but
we scarcely realise it. Just a little exercise of
silence, and you well may quench the wrath
that a retort would surely have provoked, I
have an annoying letter. I feel like replying to
it sharply, but I sit silent over it for a couple
of days and don’t feel like replying to it at all.
That saves me from an unending series of darts
and counter-darts.
A merchant, who does not claim to be a
“ satyagrahi ” or to have been a jail-goer, but
who reads Harijanbandhu carefully, narrates a
little incident in his life which has a lesson for
every one of us. I summarisi? his Gujarati letter.
One morning,’* he says, “ my younger brother,
who was a stranger to my place, came from the
station in a tonga. On asking him what hire
was to be paid to the tongawalla, he said he
had agreed to pay 14 annas. I was considerably
irritated and said to the tongawalla: ‘That is
how you would deceive strangers. Eight annas
is the usual hire, and I am not going to give
you a pice more.’ But the tongawalla said ;
‘ That is not my concern. The fact is that he
agreed to pay fourteen annas.’ It made me more
angry. There was plenty of altercation, and at
last I offered to pay him ten annas which was
the* hire fixed by the Municipality. But the
man refused to budge. I then threatened to
take him to ‘ the police station. He said : ‘ I am
going to do nothing of the kind. I will have
my fourteen annas and not a pie less. Why do
you fling the schedule of rates in my face ?
Supposing I agree to accept six annas to drive
you to the station, and at the station insist on
the scheduled ten annas, would you give it to
me? Would it be proper for me to insist on
accepting nothing less than the scheduled rate?’
That was an argument to which there was no
reply. But anger had blinded me, and I was
hurt that a mere tongawalla could get the
better of me in an argument.
“My younger brother now intervened and
said the tongawalla was entitled by rights to
fourteen annas and it was no use my talking
of the schedule. But anger had taken full.
possession of me. I asked my brother to keep
quiet. But if I was ready to waste time over
a false sense of right, the tongawalla was not.
After about an hour’s hot altercation he accepted
ten annas and left cursing and swearing at me,
“But my brother was far from happy over the
incident. When he found- that I had regained
my calm, he reverted to the subject, and asked
me why I had failed to appreciate the most
convincing argument of the tongawalla. Sense
had now come back to me, and I was sorry to
have given myself to the devil in sheer pride
and a false notion of superiority. I decided to
find out the tongawalla and to pay him his
four annas. For some days I hunted for him
in vain. One day at last I found him and asked
him to come to my shop. He hesitated, lest
I should scold him for that day’s conduct. But
I told him that I wanted to make amends for
my own stupid behaviour. I paid him his four
annas and apologised to him. His surprise knew
no boxmds. He accepted the four annas with
some reluctance and left in grateful joy. A sort
of remorse had been gnawing into my mind all
these days, and I was now at peace with myself.
That day I had been guilty of grave himsa.
There was not only the disinclination to do the
right thing, there was contempt in my mind
for the tongawalla who, I thought, was lower in
the social scale than I. I was thoroughly ashamed
of myself, and am hoping that God may rid me
of any sense of high and low that may still be
left in me.”
A Personal Incident
And here with some apology I propose to
revive an incident that happened in my own
life in the satyagraha days of 1930, Readers of
Young India may know the story as told by
Miraben, but I shall give it again in my own
words. I was on the crest of a wave of
popularity, having been ‘dictator’ for about a
month, and crowds followed the prison-van in
which I was being taken to the prison after
my conviction. Some of them wanted to load
me with garlands, but the English sergeant on
the back of the van would not stop. I was
appealing to the crowds to go back, but they
chased the car, and when they found that it
was a futile chase they flung a stone at the
sergeant. It hit him right on the chin and
gave him a nasty cut. “ Ah, ” he exclaimed in
agony, catching, the stone as it fell from his
face. “See what your wretched people do ! If
26
HARUAN
[ March 9, 1940
self-sacrificing men and women, why then is
there disruption in Bengal? It is a puzzle of
which the solution is as difficult as it is
obvious. Therefore Gandhiji said to the workers,
■“ All incompatible mixtures are bound to ex-
plode. You must resolve to act on the square,
and whilst you should be prepared to compromise
on non-essentials you should never be in the
imcomfortable position of having to compromise
truth. You should retire from all such positions.
That is the essence of compromise. Let service
without near or distant objective be your motto.
You are surrounded by poverty on all sides.
Serve those that are afflicted whether they are
Muslims, Namasudras or others. Satyagraha trans-
cends parties, and divisions of class and creed.
It should permeate the whole of our being and
society. There is no question before you of
enlisting members for the G)ngress. Give up
aU thought of gaining members for the sake of
swelling your register. That is power politics.
I would rather have 'no register than blacken
it with bogus members. If you will thus become
silent workers, even one of you will lead the
Congress in the province without being in it.
“ I hope you will not now say, ‘ What will
happen if the Congress is captured by the
opponents ? ’ You know the Upanishad precept
— ^Enjoy by means of renunciation.
Give up the Congress in order to ‘ enjoy ’
■or have it. The moment I set my heart on
-some kind of capturing I am done for. No
manoeuvring to keep your hold on the
Congress, no descending from the right path,
and you will disarm all opposition. A bogus
Congress register can never lead you to Swaraj
any more than a paper boat can help you to
sail across the Padma." -
The Corollaiy
What he said immediately hereafter to the
larger meeting of workers was a kind of coro-
llary to the principle enunciated in the fore-
going. If I mistake not, about a furlong away
was being heard the slogan ‘ Down with Gandhism’.
'“Let us understand,” he said, “that there is a
kcind of poison in the atmosphere. How are
we to fight it? Whether the number of those
who shout these slogans is 50 or 500, we may
not ignore them. We must try to discover their
grievance. We may not treat them with
contempt, if we are believers in ahimsa. No
M’gumentum ad kominum will do. It is no
answer to say that they ate mercenaries, for
you may be sure that not any and every one
who is offered a train fare and a wage would
consent to come here. They must to an extent
believe in their mission. And at the back of
their mind is the feeling that * Gandhism ’ is
out to destroy what they hold dear. If that is
the case, they may well desire the destruction
of Gandhism. When we see the thing in this
light we can afford to keep our temper. We
will then try to meet and plead with them
and assure them tliat we do not desire to
obstruct their work. I do not say that you will
immediately win them over, but you will
certainly check the spread of the poison.
Retaliation is counter poison, and poison breeds
more poisons. The nectar of love alone can
destroy the poison of hate.
“Therefore let not the cries anger you. Let
none of you think of drowning those cries in
the cry of ‘Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai’. You have
done well in not shouting counter slogans. You
have thereby sterilised theirs, and very little
mischief has been done. If the forbearance is based
on ahimsa, I am sure they will ultimately be still.
“It is a delusion to think that it is necessary
to be members of the Congress in order to
serve it. There are numerous people outside the
Congress who are serving it better than those
who are in it. Therefore I have told you that
he who takes up the charkha with a knowledge
of its implications serves the Congress cause
better than Congressmen. I was glad to be told
that all of you have pledged yourselves to spin
at least 60,CX)0 yards a year. If, however, there
is the slightest hcsitance on your part, I would
ask you not to take the pledge but try to do
your quota without taking it.
“There is, however, a flaw in self-spinning
to which I should like to draw your attention.
You will of course spin to make your own cloth,
but you will to that extent deprive the poor
spinners. The wheel is meant for them. But
though there is this flaw in it I am asking
you all to spin in order to universalise spinning.
Those of you who are too poor to purchase
khadi will of course card and spin for your-
selves. But such of you as can afford to buy
your khadi will send the 60,000 yards to the
Spinners' Association, which will thus be able
to reduce the price of khadi in its stock by
adding to it the gift of your yarn. That will
enable poor people, who can neither spin for
themselves nor purchase khadi today, to buy the
khadi thus made cheaper for them. This is
what I call a voluntary labour tax. In Europe
there is compulsory military service. Let us
have compulsory non-military service here. All
that you do, you will do intelligently, of your
free will, and out of a spirit of service.
“ Along with khadi are the other cottage
industries, Harijan service, and other items of
constructive work, which, if solidly done, will
create the strength that political work, so called,
cannot. That may preclude t.he necessity for
civil disobedience and will automatically end
the Hindu-Muslim tension, abolish untouchability,
abolish the squabbles between the “ leftists ” and
the * rightists ', and break the chains of slavery.
This to my mind is rashtra dharma par excellence."
Women’s Work
I have already mentioned the women workers.
Those from Dacca district presented to Gandhiji
100,000 yards of yarn, those from Noakhali 10,000,
from Sylhet 13,000, and from Malda 1,000. Notable
among these were Shrimatis Lavanyalata Sen
Maech 9, 1940 3
HAEIJAN
27
and Ashalata Sen who have been workers in the
cause for years, Shrimati Bidhumukhi Some, aged
70, wears clothes of her own yarn and gave to
Kasturba a sari woven out of her own yarn. One
of the sisters presented to Gandhiji an image of
the Motherland carved in a block of wood. She
is the daughter of a Vishwakarma and inherits
the art from her father. Another sister, whose
name too I forget, presented to Gandhiji a
beautiful leather case with the picture of Bharat-
mata brought out in relief on it. She is a
student of Shri Nandalal Bose. With workers
such as these, work in Bengal should be easier
than in any other province. Gandhiji asked them
to take up what was specially women’s work :
"Menfolk have taken to spinning, but let me
confess that the art comes more naturally to
you than to them. One of the reasons is that
men have many other avenues of employment.
And if Swaraj has to come through the charkba,
your share in the fight for freedom is going to
be greater. Again if Swaraj has to come through
non-violence, then too your place in the fight
will be in the forefront, for Nature has given
you a greater capacity for suffering than she has
to men. In order also to wipe out the reproach
of inferiority and subjection that man has imposed
on woman, you will take your privileged part
in the fight and prove to the world that you
are better fighters for freedom than men."
There were thousands of women in the
mammoth meeting held on the 25th for the
presentation of the purse. Gandhiji repeated the
same sentiments before them.
The Sangh Lives
As I said in my last article the Sangh has
changed, but the Sangh cannot die, and, as
Gandhiji has effectively shown in his article
on the Sangh, it has to live more purely and
nobly than ever before. It was about to be
the victim of the faults and flaws that over-
take all organisations when they grow unwieldy,
especially those with a spiritual object. Shorn
of its size the Sangh, especially its conscien-
tious president, is free from the responsibility
of watching the conduct of its multitude of
members. Such of those as have accepted its
ideals will continue to do so even now, and
their spiritual bond, as between one another
and with Kishorelalbhai, can never be broken.
They will still seek and get his advice, and
they will without calling themselves members of
the Sangh spread the fragrance of their gospel
in an unobtrusive way. The committee will
address itself to the special work of research
with more freedom from administrative burdens.
The work of research lies both in t hinkin g and
working out the potency of the wheel as a
symbol ‘of non-violence and as an instrument of
rearing in the country a handicraft civilisation
on firm and solid foundations, and in getting in
touch with workers along that line. They will
examine all the criticism that is levelled against
-the cult of the charkha with a dispassionate
mind, get in touch with the critics, and try to
benefit by whatever may be true in what they say.
As for the concrete activity of the Sangh, it
will continue as before. Thus the Ashram at
Tiruchengodu with' its khadi depot and several
thousand spinners, its free dispensary, hospital,
Harijan school and bee-keeping; the Utkal centre
with its work in ten villages ; the Goseva Char-
malya ( non-violent tannery ) at Nalwadi ( which
tanned last year nearly 4,000 skins of dead
animals, sold Rs. 14,000 worth of tanned leather,
and Rs. 18,000 worth of manufactured goods)
— all these activities will go on without being
affected by the altered form of the Sangh.
An Appeal
Friends have drawn my attention to the fact
that, whilst I mentioned the acts of goondaism
at Malikanda and the hostile slogans, I had
said nothing about the assaults on two students
of Ripon College on the evening of our depar-
ture for Malikanda. Shri Manoranjanbabu of
Noakhali visited the young men and found
that they had received injuries, they also , said
that they had been assaulted by a vounteer
in khadi who was shouting ‘Sardar Patel ki Jai’.
When I wrote my article for the last week’s
Harijan I knew nothing about these cases. I am
grieved, as I know Gandhiji and the Sardar would
be both deeply grieved, for those who with their
names on their lips assaulted anyone, no matter
who he was, whether he carried a black flag or
shouted hostile or insulting slogans. If Gandhiji’s
voice could reach all the people who take part
in demonstrations of this character, he would ask
them not to go to stations or similar places and,
if they go there, to observe absolute quiet , and
discipline, no matter how much the provocation
by word or deed. ‘The cry ‘ Mahatma Gandhi ki
Jai’ when it is without reason is positively un-
pleasant and hurtful and often so unbearable as
to make him stuff his ears, and when combined
with an unbecoming deed, it is an insult to him.
Having said this, may I say that those who
are responsible for leading the youths of Bengal
are doing no service to them if they encourage
slogans and indiscipline? May I mention the fact
that Gandhiji and the Sardar are the recipients
of letters couched in unprintable language, from
those who sign themselves “youths of Bengal”.
Pamphlets which were unworthy of anyone
who professess to serve and love the mother-
land were distributed, and a well-known lady
worker showed me a letter addressed to her
which contained threats to her and abuse of the
leaders in unprintable language, for no other fault
than that she attended the Gandhi Seva Sangh.
I would like to know whom these youths served
by their slogans. They certainly did not serve
themselves nor did they serve the thousands of
villagers who stood near the fence in Malikanda
in exemplary silence every day for Gandhiji’s
darshan. These are still untouched by violence.
Do we want them to catch the. inftctbn?
Sevagram, 4-3-40 M. D.
28
HARIJAN
[ March 9, 1940
Notes
Segaon Becomes Sevagram
■ There is Segaon near Wardha where I am
trying to be a villager. A.nd there is Shegaon, a
station on the main line about 132 miles west
of Wardha. The result was that many letters
and wires meant for Segaon, Wardha, went to
Shegaon station. In order to avoid this confusion
an application was sent to the authorities on
behalf of the villagers to change the name
of Segaon to Sevagram. It is a name with a
meaning. It means a village dedicated to service.
The villagers who signed the application did
so fully knowing what they were doing. Let us
hope they will live up to the meaning of the
name they have chosen to give to their village.
Correspondents will please bear the change in
mind.
- Sevagram, 5-3-40
When The British Withdraw
“ Unless you adopt an all-party form of govern-
ment, you are paving the way towards sowing
Hindu-Muslim conflict after the British protection is
withdrawn. It was not non-violence but your tremen-
dous magnetism plus the backing of British bayonet
that kept the Congress in power. Try non-violence
without the latter for two or three months, and the
truth of the above will be realised.*’
Thus writes an esteemed correspondent. I have
no diflBculty in endorsing the remark that it was
the British bayonet that kept the Congress minis-
tries in power. My “ magnetism ” may have had
something to do with the victory at the polls.
But it proved utterly useless to keep the minis-
tries in power. The sustaining force was the
British bayonet. This only shows that the people
at large have not yet imbibed the lesson of
non-violence.
The remedy is not an all-party government.
Such will be no government of the people for
the people. It will be the government of a
-caucus for its own ends. The caucus will have
,no smoother sailing than the Congress ministries
had. It will also have to rely upon the British
bayonet. There can be no manly peace in the
land unless the British bayonet is withdrawn.
The risk of riots has to be run. Non-violence
will be born out of such risks, if at all it is
to be part of national life. It is daily becoming
crystal clear that real unity will not come so
long as the British bayonet crushes the free
spirit of the people. The peace it imposes is
the peace of the grave. I feel that riots will
be a welcome relief, if that is the price we
have to pay for freedom. For out of them I can
conceive the possibility of peace coming, not
out of the present unreality. The way out of riots
on the one hand and British bayonets on the
other is frank acceptance of non-violence. To
this my life is dedicated, and my faith in its
possibility and efficacy will survive the dissolu-
tion of my 1x)dy.
On the train to Wardha. 3-3-40
Clear Injustice
The secretary of the Seng Khasi Free Morning
School, Mawkhar, Shillong, has sent a circular
letter to those who are concerned in matters
educational, and has favoured me also with a
copy. I extract the following from it :
“ The British Government gave education grants to
the Christian missionaries for spreading education
among the people of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills
District. The missionaries printed the text-books for
schools according to their liking and choice* viz.
History of Jesus, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and so on
and so forth. They translated the Bible into Khasi
language and made it a text-book for schools. You
will find the inspecting staff for the schools of this
District consist entirely of Christians. Fortunately
for the Khasis, some pure Khasi gentlemen of hallow-
ed memory took the initiative of providing national
education for the Khasi children and started the
Seng Khasi Free Morning School as early as 1921,
with a view to preserving Khasi national culture. They
wrote books containing ideas and ideals of ancient
Khasi culture and religion. Ever since its starting
the school has been doing its humble services
in the line of national education. It is a
free school and entertains children of all the poorer
classes. The Deputy Inspector of Schools, Khasi and
Jaintia Hills, desired us to follow the curriculum
prescribed by his department. I agreed to accept the
curriculum provided that those books written or
compiled by the missionaries should not be included
in the curriculum of the Seng Khasi School. The
Deputy Inspector of Schools did not recommend this
school for a grant from the Government on the
plea that the curriculum was not followed in the
school. The books written by the late Babu Jeebon
Roy, Extra Assistant Commissioner, late U. Radhon
Sing Berry and U. Sib Charan Roy are being
taught in the Seng Khasi School. It is a matter
of great regret that the Deputy Inspector of Schools
compels this school to teach missionary books and
frustrate the very object with which it was established.*’
If what is stated here is true, it enforces the
argument often advanced by me that Christian
missionary effort has been favoured by the ruling
power. But I advertise the circular not for the
sake of emphasising my argument. I do so in
order to ventilate the grievance of the secretary
of the school. Surely he has every right to
object to teaching proselytising literature prepared
by the missionaries. It should be remembered that
the school has been in receipt of a grant from
Government. It is not clear why the question
of the missionary books has now cropped up. It
is to be hoped ' that the school will not be
deprived of the grant because of the secretary’s
very reasonable objection.
Skimmed Milk
Prof. Warner of Allahabad Agricultural Insti-
tute sends me a copy of a note submitted
by him to a Municipal Board in U. P, The
Board has passed a bye-law requiring that
“all skimmed milk sold in the city should
be coloured in order that at may be easily
identified as skimmed milk, thereby prevent-
ing its use in diluting or adulterating whole
milk.” Prof. Warner is of opinion that this
is a dangerous bye-law whose effect would be
total destruction or a valuable protective food.
He has shown in the note, I- think conclusively.
MAEOH 9, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
29
that skimmed milk as an article of food is not
to be despised, the only difference between
whole milk and skimmed milk bein^ that a large
percentage of fat is removed ^from skimmed milk
for preparing butter, but the milk retains all
the and all the proteins. Adulteration, there-
fore, of whole milk with skimmed milk pro-
duces very little effect upon its nutritive value.
Only the percentage of fat is reduced somewhat.
He gives figures in support of his argument
which I need not reproduce. He does not mind
bye-laws preventing adulteration even with skim-
med milk. But he strongly objects, and I think
rightly, to destroying skimmed milk by colouring
it, and he shows that not only is a valuable
article of diet taken away from the mouths
of poor people, but the danger of adulteration
of milk with water increases. And this danger
is very real, because the greater the percentage
of water the lower is the nutritive value of milk.
And add to this the fact that the water itself
may be impure. Prof. Warner draws a distinction
between requiring the colouring of vegetable ghee
for preventing adulteration of real ghee, and the
colouring of skimmed milk. It is wholly neces-
sary that vegetable ghee should be coloured
with some innocuous dye. Coloured vegetable ghee
will be used by the people for its cheapness.
But as there is already prejudice against skimmed
milk people will refuse to take coloured skimmed
milk, even though the colouring matter may be
utterly innocuous. I would on my own behalf
enforce Prof. Warner’s argument by suggesting
that municipalities will do well to popularise the
use of skimmed milk. It can be sold very cheap
and it is a perfectly wholesome thing both for
the rich and the poor, and is a good sick man’s
diet, when whole milk is rejected by the
digestive apparatus.
On the train to Calcutta, 16-2-40 M. K. G.
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Is It Voluntary?
Q. The local officials have been collecting
money from the people in aid of the war fund.
But the way in which they have been raising
money, though it is supposed to be voluntary
giving, seems to be practical coercion. They
arranged for a drama, but under instructions
from the officials the village teachers ( some of
whom get about 12 or 15 rupees per month),
the village .Munsiff, bazaar-keepers; all had to
buy tickets varying in price from one to fifteen
rupees each. A petty shop-keeper whose income
is only about Rs. 15 had to pay Rs. 5 for a
ticket though the man never attended the drama.
He told me he paid the money because the
local Sub-collector, Tahsildar,- Circle Inspector of
Police were all there’ in person to collect the
money. I am told Rs. 3,500 were raised in one
night in my village. Will you advise what to do ?
A. If what you say is true, it is naked
coercion. There is nothing voluntary in the
people’s action. I can only hope that the higher
authorities do not know anything about such
high-handed procedure. Your duty is clear. You
must tell the people that they ought not to
submit to coercion. They are as free to refuse to
buy tickets as they are free to buy them. You
and they should run the risk involved; you in
instructing the people, and they in refusing to pay.
A Young Man’s Dilemma
Q. I am a young m an of 22 years. Is it
legitimate for me to refuse to oblige my father
in the matter of marriage if I do not wish
to marry ?
A. According to the shastras and also' reason,
children when they reach the age of discretion,
which the former prescribe as 16, become their
parents’ friends, i. e. are free from parental dic-
tation. They are still bound to consult them
and defer to their wishes wherever they can.
You are full-grown, and in a matter so vital
as marriage you should respectfully refuse to
marry if the match is not to your liking or
for any other valid reason.
A Domestic Difficulty
Q. I am a young man of 23 years. For the
last two years I have been using pure khadi
only. For the last 28 days I have been spinn-
ing regularly in my leisure time. But my wife
refuses to wear khadi. She says it is too coarse.
Should I compel her to use khadi? I may also
mention that I find our temperaments are
incompatible.
A. This is the common lot of life in India.
I have often said that the husband, being the
stronger and more educated party, has to act
as tutor to his wife and put up with her
defects, if any. In your case you have to bear
the incompatibility and conquer your wife by
love, never by compulsion. It follows that you
cannot compel your wife to use khadi. But you
should trust your love and example to make
her do the right thing. Remember your wife b
not your property any more than you are hers.
She b your better half. Treat her as such.
You will not regret the experiment.
Another Domestic Difficulty
Q. I am married. My wife is a good woman.
We have children. We have lived together in
peace hitherto. Unfortunately she came across
someone whom she has adopted as her guru.
She has received gurumantra from her, and her
life has become a close book for me. .This has
given rise to coolness between us. I do not
know what I should do. Rama, as portrayed
by Tulsidas, is my ideal hero. Should I not do
what Rama did, and cut off all connection
with my wife?
A. Tulsidas has taught us that we may not
indiscriminately imitate the great. What they
may do with impunity we may not. Think of
Rama’s love for Sita. Tulsidas telb us that
before the appearance of the golden deer the
real Sita at the behest of Rama disappeared in
the clouds and the mere shadow remained. This
fact was a close secret even from Lakshmana*
XXX1.XVX«I -CXil
The poet further tells us that Rama had a
purpose which was divine. It was with this
shadow of Sita that Rama dealt after the
appearance of the golden deer on the scene. Even
so Sita never resented any single act of Rama.
All such data would be lacking in any mundane
case, as they are lacking in yours. Therefore
my advice to you would be to bear with your
wife and not interfere with her so long as you
have no cause of complaint against her conduct.
If you adopted someone as your guru and had
your gurumantra and if you did not impart the
secret to your wife, I am sure you would not
relish her resenting your refusal to disclose the
secret. I admit that between husband and wife
there should be no secrets from one another. I
have a very high opinion of the marriage tie.
1 hold that husband and wife merge in each
other. They are one in two or two in one.
But these things cannot be regulated mechani-
cally. All things considered, therefore, since you
are a liberal-minded husband, you should have
no difficulty in respecting your wife’s reluctance
to share the secret with you.
Muslim Weavers and Mill Yam
Q. By insisting on the use of certified khadi
only, you have delivered a very severe blow to
the Muslim weavers on the one hand who are
mostly using mill yarn, and on the other to the
consumer who is thus induced to purchase cer-
tified khadi which is notoriously dear. I am a
Muslim working for the uplift of the weaver
class. I appeal to you to remove this double
hardship by sanctioning the use of hand-woven
mill yam khadi.
A. There is no communalism in khadi. The
A. I. S. A. has thousands of Muslim spinners
and himdreds of Muslim weavers on its books.
Khadi has as yet made little impression upon
mill yarn weavers. What it has done is to
provide occupation to those Hindu and Mus lim
weavers who were thrown out of employment
by mill competition. Those weavers who do not
take to weaving handspun are cutting their own
throats because the natural consequence of the
spread of mills will be the destruction of weavers
as it has been that of hand-spinners. The hand-
loom weavers who have held their own are
pattern weavers. If khadi became universal,
Muslim and other weavers who are today
weaving .mill yam would, as a matter of course,
take to weaving handspun. Thus there is no
case of khadi ever hitting a single weaver. In
ffict it is his sole protection.
A Ticklish Question
Q. I am a Hindu student. I have been great
friends with a Muslim, but we have fallen out
over the question of idol worship. I find solace
in idol worship, but I cannot give an answer to
my Muslim fnend in terms of what may be
called convincing. Will you say something on
idol worship in Harijanl
A. My sympathies arc both with you and
your Muslim fnend. I suggest your reading my
writings on the question in Young India and, if
you feel at all satisfied, let your Muslim friend
read them too. If your friend has real love for
you, he will conquer his prejudice against idol
worship. A friendship which exacts oneness of
opinion and conduct is not worth much. Friends
have to tolerate one another’s ways of life and
thought even though they may be different,
except where the difference is fundamental. May-
be your friend has come to think that it is
sinful to associate with you as you are an idolater.
Idolatry is bad, not so idol worship. An idolater
makes a fetish of his idol. An idol worshipper
sees God even in a stone and therefore takes
the help of an idol to establish his union with
God. Every Hindu child knows that the stone
in the famous temple in Benares is not Kashi
Vishwanath. But he believes that the Lord of
the Universe does reside specially in that stone.
This play of the imagination is permissible and
healthy. Every edition of the Gita on a book-
stall has not that sanctity which I ascribe to
my own copy. Logic tells me there is no more
sanctity in my copy than in any another. The
sanctity is in my imagination. But that imagi-
nation brings about marvellous concrete results.
It changes men's lives. I am of opinion that,
whether we admit it or not; we are all idol
yrorshippers or idolaters, if the distinction I have
drawn is not allowed. A book, a building, a
picture, a carving are surely all images in
which God does reside, but they are not God.
He who says they are errs.
Educated Unemployment
Q. The problem of unemployment among the
educated is assuming alarming proportions. You
of course condemn higher education, but those
of us who have been to the University realise
that we do develop mentally there. Why should
you discourage anyone from learning? Would
not a better solution be for unemployed gradu-
ates to go in for mass education and let the
villagers give them food in return? And could
not Provincial Governments come to their aid
and help them with some money and clothing?
A. I am not against higher education. But I
am against only a few lakhs of boys and girls
receiving it at the expense of the poor tax-payer.
Moreover I am against the type of higher
education that is given. It is much cry and
little wool. The whole system of higher educa-
tion and for that matter all education needs
radical overhauling. But your difficulty is about
unemployment. In this you have • may sympathy
and co-operation. On the principle that every
labourer is worthy of his hire, every graduate
who goes to a village to serve it is entitled to
be housed, fed and clothed by the villagers. And
they do it too. But they will not when the
graduate lives like Sahehhg and costs them ten
times as much as they can afford. His life
must accord as nearly as possible with that of
the villagers and his mission must find apprecia-
tion among them. Sevagram, 5-3—40
March 9, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
31
AN INTERLUDE AT SANTINIKETAN
“ Love never faileth.” ( I Cor. 13-8 )
Prof. L. P. Jacks has somewhere pithily
observed that there is nothing like ‘ safe conduct’
in morality. Prescriptive morality is a contra-
diction in terms. Morality begins only where
certainty ends, and a person who holds hack
action until he has a cent per cent guarantee
that his line of conduct is correct, will ever
remain a stranger to moral action in the true
sense, for there is no virtue in a morality that
has no element of risk or adventure in it.
What is true of prescriptive morality is truer
still of non-violence. The practice of non-vio-
lence presents its votaries baffling conundrums
at every step. But if a person makes of it a
doctrine of negation and allows it to choke his
sp ring of action so as to make him a helpless
witness of wrong, he stultifies himself spiritually
and puts non-violence to shame. This was the
kernel of Gandhiji’s remarks before a small group
of pacifists, who led by Dr. Amiya Chakravarti
took the opportunity to exchange notes with him
on the subject of non-violence during his brief
two days’ stay at Santiniketan. The group
included a couple of Quaker friends and Shri
Gurdial Mullick, who acted the delicate and
difficult part of Gandhiji’s jailor and caretaker
under Gurudev’s roof. Dr. Chakravarti is himself
a careful student of non-violence, and the group
he has organised is particularly interested in
studying its technique in action.
“ Supposing, ’’ asked one of them, “ in the
presence of superior brute force one feels helpless,
would he be justified in using just enough force
to prevent the perpetration of wrong ? ” “ Yes,”
replied Gandhiji, "but there need not be that
feeling of helplessness if there is real non-
violence in you. To feel helpless in the presence
of violence is not non-violence but cowardice.
Non-violence should not be mixed up with
cowardice,”
The friend adduced a specific instance. “ Suppose
someone came and hurled insult at you, should
you allow yourself to be thus humiliated?”
“If you feel humiliated,” replied Gandhiji, “you
will be justified in slapping the bully in the
face or taking whatever action you might dooTp
necessary to vindicate your self-respect. The
use of force, under the circumstances, would be
the natural consequence if you are not a coward.
But there should be no feeling of humiliation
in you if you have assimilated the non-violent
spirit. Your non-violent behaviour would then
either make the bully feel ashamed of himsplf
and prevent the insult, or make you immune
against it so that the insult would remain only
in the bully’s mouth and not touch you at all.”
The friend varied the argument. ‘‘Supposing
there is a person with a diseased mind — a lunatic
run amock, bent upon murder, or you arrive
on the scene of trouble when the situation has
already advanced too far. An infuriated mob
has got out of hand, aiid you feel helpless, would
you justify the use of physical force to restrain
the lunatic in the first case, or allow the use,
say, of tear gas in the latter ?” he asked.
“ I will excuse it for all time,” replied Gandhiji.
“But I would not say it is justified from the
non-violent standpoint. I would say that there
was not that degree of non-violence in you to
give you confidence in purely non-violent treat-
ment. If you had, your simple presence would
be sufficient to pacify the lunatic. Non-violence
carries within it its own sanction. It is not
a mechanical thing. You do not become non-
violent by merely saying, ‘ I shall not use
force.’ It must be felt in the heart. There
must be within you an upwelling of love and
pity towards the wrong-doer. When there is
that feeling it will express itself through some
action. It may be a sign, a glance, even silence.
But such as it is it will melt the heart of the
wrong-doer and check the wrong.
“ The use of tear gas is not justified in terms
of the non-violent ideal. But I would defend
its use against the whole world if I found
myself in a comer when I could not save a
helpless girl from violation or prevent an infuri-
ated crowd from indulging in madness, except
by its use. God would not excuse me if, on
the Judgment Day, I were to plead before
Him that I could not prevent these things from
happening because I was held back by my creed
of non-violence. Non-violence is self-acting, A
fully non-violent person is by natxure incapable
of using violence or rather has no use for it.
His non-violence is all-sufficing under all
circumstances.
“ Therefore, when I say that the use of force
is wrong and whatever degree and under what-
ever circumstances, I mean it in. a relative
sense. It is much better for me to say I have
not sufficient non-violence in me, than to admit
exceptions to an eternal principle. Moreover my
refusal to admit exceptions spiurs me to perfect
myself in the technique of non-violence. I
literally believe in Patanjali’s aphorism that
violence ceases in the presence of non-violence.”
“Can a State carry on strictly according to
the principle of non-violence ? ” put in another
friend.
“ A Government cannot succeed, ” replied
Gandhiji, “ in becoming entirely non-violent,
because it represents all the people. I do not
today conceive of such a golden age. But I
do believe in the possibility of a predominantly
non-violent society. And I am working for it.
A Government representing such society will
use the least amount of force. But no Govern-
ment worth its name can suffer anarchy to
prevail. Hence I have said that even under a
Government based primarily on non-violence a
small police force will be necessary.”
On train, 17-2-40 Pyaielal
Mahatma Gandhi By S. Radhakrishnan. Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 7 As. Available at Harijan Office- Poona 4
and 81 Queen’s Road, Bombay 2.
32
HAEIJAIf
[ March 9, 1940
WHEN?
(.By M. K. Gandhi")
Everybody is asking me not whether but when
I am to call the country to civil disobedience.
Some of my questioners are the most sober
among co-workers. To them the Patna resolution
has no other meaning than that the struggle’s
coming is a question of days. It is proof
the country, or that part of it that has hitherto
taken part in the struggle for freedom, is tired
of waiting and suspense. It is heartening to
think that there are in the country so many
persons who count no sacrifice too dear for
gaining independence.
While, therefore, I admire the -rpal of my
questioners, I must warn them a gainsf being
impatient. There is nothing in the resolution
to warrant the belief that the atmosphere is
suitable for declaring dvil disobedience. It will
be suicidal to declare it when there is so much
indiscipline and violence within the Congress
itself. Congressmen will make a serious mistaW
if they do not give full weight to my words.
I cannot, will not, start mass civil disobedience
so long as I am not convinced that there is
enough discipline and enough non-violence in
Congress ranks. The apathy about the construc-
tive programme, i. e. spinning and sales of Irbad? ,
I take to be positive signs of unhplipf Battle
through such instruments is foredoomed to
failure. Such persons should know I am
not their man. If there is no hope of
attaining the necessary measure of discipline and
non-violence, it would be better to let me
retire from leadership.
Let it be clearly understood that I cannot be
hustled into precipitating the struggle. They err
grievously who think that I can ever declare
civil disobedience, having been driven thereto by
the so-called leftists. I make no such distinction
between rightists and leftists. Both are my co-
workers and friends. He will be a bold man
who can with any measure of certainty draw
the line of demarcation between leftists and
rightists. Congressmen and aon-Congressmen sbmdd
also know that, even if the whole country were
to turn against me, I must, when the time comes,
fight single-handed. The others have or may have
weapons besides non-violence. I have no rbni^-^
Being the author of non-violent technique in
the political field, I am bound to fi g b t when I
feel the urge from within.
It is inherent in the technique that I never
know the time table in advance. The call may
come at any time. It need not be described as
from God. The inner urge is a current phrase
easily understood. Everybody sometimes acts upon
the iimer urge. Such action need not always be
right. But there is no other explanation possible
for certain actions.
The thought often comes to me that it would
be a good thing if the Congress could forget
me. I do sometimes feel that with my strange
views of life I am a misfit in the Congress.
Whatever special qualifications I may possess
and for which the Congress and the country
may have use, can perhaps be better utilised if
I were wholly cut off fitom the Congress. But
I know that this severance cannot be brought
about mechanically or violently. It will come
in its own time, if it has to come. Only
Congressmen should know my limitations and
should not be surprised or grieved if they finH
me stiff and unbending. I ask them to believe
me when I say that I am incapable of acting
without the fulfilment of the conditions laid
down for declaring mass civil disobedience.
Sevagram, 5-3-40
INDIA AND THE WAR
In view of the critical situation which the
country has to face; the Working Committee
has decided, at its meeting held at Patna last
week, to recommend to the Congress Subjects
Committee only the following resolution:
This Congress, having considered the grave
and critical situation resulting from the War
in Europe and British policy in regard to it,
approves of and endorses the resolutions passed
and the action taken on the War situation by
the A I. C. C. and the Working Committee. The
Congress considers the declaration by the British
Government of India as a belligerent country,
without any reference to the people of India,
and the exploitation of India’s resources in this
War, as an a&ont to them, which no self-
respecting and freedom-loving people can accept
ortolerare. The recent pronouncements made on
behalf of the British Government in regard to
India demonstrate that Great Britain is carrying
on the War fundamentally for imperialist ends
and for the preservation and strengthening of her
Empire, which is based on the exploitation of
the people of India, as well as of other Asiatic
and A&ican countries. Under these circumstances,
it is clear that the Congress cannot in any way,
directly or indirectly, be party to the War,
which means continuance and perpetuation of
this exploitation. The Congress, therefore, strong-
ly disapproves of Indian troops being made to
fight for Great Britain and of the drain from
India of men and material for the purpose of
the War. Neither the recruiting nor the money
raised in India can be considered to be volun-
tary contributions from India. Congressmen, and
those under the Congress influence, cannot help
in the prosecution of the War with men,
money or material
The Congress hereby declares again that
nothing short of Complete Independence can be
accepted by the people of India. Indian freedoms
March 9, 1940
HARIJAN
33
cannot exist within the orbit ofj •imperialism*
-and Dominion Status or any other status ^within
•the imperial structure is wholly inapplicable Jto
India, is not in keeping with the dignity of a
great nation, and would bind India in many
ways to British policies and economic structure.
The people of India alone can properly shape
their own constitution and determine their
relations to the other countries of the world,
through a Constituent Assembly elected on the
basis of adult sufiErage.
The Congress is further of opinion that
while it will always be ready, as it ever has
been, to make every effort to secure communal
harmony, no permanent solution is possible except
through a Constituent Assembly, where the rights
of all recognised minorities will be fully pro-
tected by agreement, as far as possible, between
the elected representatives of various majority and
minority groups, or by arbitration if agreement
is not reached on any point. Any alternative
will lack finality. India's constitution must be
based on independence, democracy and national
unity, and the Congress repudiates attempts to
divide India or to split up her nationhood. The
Congress has always aimed at a constitution
where the fullest freedom and opportunities of
•development are guaranteed to the group and
the individual, and social injustice yields place
to a juster social order.
The Congress cannot admit the right of the
Rulers of Indian States, or of foreign vested
•interests, to come in the way of Indian freedom.
■Sovereignty in India must rest with the people,
whether in the States or the Provinces, and all
■other interests must be subordinated to their
vital interests. The Congress holds that the
difficulty raised in regard to the States is of
British creation, and it will not be satisfactorily
solved unless the declaration of the freedom of
India from foreign rule is unequivocally made.
Foreign interests, if they are not in conflict with
»the interests of the Indian people, will be protected.
The Congress withdrew the Ministries from
the Provinces where the Congress had a majority
•in order to dissociate India from the War and
to enfisree the Congress determination to free
India from foreign domination. This preliminary
«tep must naturally be followed by civil dis-
obedience, to which the Congress will unhesj tat-
ingly resort as soon as the Congress organization
is considered fit enough for the purpose, or in
•case circumstances so shape themselves as to
precipitate a crisis. The Congress desires to
■draw the attention of Congressmen to Gandhiji’s
■declaration that he can only undertake the
•responsibility of declaring civil disobedience when
■he is satisfied that they are strictly observing
•discipline and are carrying out the constructive
•programme prescribed in the Independence Pledge.
The Congress seeks to represent and serve
•all classes and communities without distinction
•of race or religion, and the struggle for Indian
independence is for the freedom of the whole
nation. Hence the Congress cherishes the hope
that all classes and communities will take part
in it. The purpose of civil disobedience is to
evoke the spirit of sacrifice in the whole nation.
The Congress hereby authorises the All India
Congress Committee and, in the event of this
being necessary, the Working Committee, to take
all steps to implement the foregoing resolution „
as the Committee concerned may deem necessary.
WHAT RESOLUTION MEANS
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The question has come from London whether
the Congress has closed the door to negotiation
and compromise. My interpretation of the reso-
lution is that the Congress has not closed the
door. It has been closed by Lord Zetland.
There can be no negotiation on his terms
so far as the Congress is concerned. India will
not be a helpless partner in her own exploita-
tion and foreign domination. The Congress will
not rest till India is a free country as Britain
is. And if India accepts non-violence as her
settled policy, she will be freer than Britain.
Britain, which has ruled the waves, is in danger
of losing her liberty. I have prescribed a
remedy which is fool-proof. Whether the Congress
will be instrumental in gaining India’s freedom
or not is a different question. The resolution
states in unequivocal terms that the Congress
will enter into no compromise that gives India
less. The other thing that the Congress has made
clear is that the British aim being known to
be no ot^er than the consolidation of the British
Empire, the India that is influenced by the
Congress can be no party to the war. In other
words, the Congress cannot give Britain its moral
support. The third thing the resolution makes
clear is that the fight, whenever it comes, will
be strictly non-violent and, therefore, under severe
discipline. The choice will be Britain's, not that
of the Congress, whether India is once more to
be a prison house for those who will rather
be prisoners and even go through greater
sufferings than be helpless witnesses of their
country’s continuous subordinatbn to Great
Britain or any other Power. Calcutta, 2-3-40
Handmade Paper
The following are the figures of pur purchases and
sales of paper from January 1st to February 29th,
1940 :
Purchases Sales
January 2599-10-0 1731-10-3
February 1933-2-6 1375-14-3
4532-12-6 3307— a^6
Moreover. Rs. 386-0-3 have been given as catting
and envelope-making charges.
During these two months we have sdd 64,338
whole sheets; 62,932 latter paper; 193,659 envelopes;
164 card sheets; 17,148 cards; 1,170 whole blotting
sheets; 787 blotting pieces; 950 visiting cards; 6L
pocket books; 2,100 tag labels; and 708 office files.
Manager, Harijani Poona 4; and 81 Queen's Roadt
Bombay 2.
34
HABIJAN
I Maeoh 9, 1940
THE SABTINIKETAN PILGEIMAGE
In the course of a 'letter which he wrote on
the eve of his visit to Santiniketan Gandhiji
described it as a ‘ pilgrimage As an institution
that, pending his arrival, invited and gave shel-
ter, under its hospitable roof, to members of his
‘family’ on their return to India from South
Africa, it has always claimed a soft corner in
his heart. And the sweet associations of
Gurudev and Borodada, the late Mr. Pearson and
Deenbandhu Andrews have only heightened that
feeling. To attune himself to that feeling, or
perhaps under the stress of that feeling,
Gandhiji before starting made a drastic reduc-
tion in his entourage, cutting it down to the
barest minimum irrespective of every other con-
sideration, and though' many at that time failed
to catch its import, it gave Gandhiji, in the
retrospect, a supreme satisfaction to have taken
that unbending moral stand as the only course
befitting the solemnity of the occasion.
This was to be his third visit to Santiniketan
the last one bemg fourteen years ago — in 1925.
He knew it was overdue. Every report about
Gurudev's failing health accompanied by a ‘love
message’ from the Poet that Deenbandhu sent
to Gandhiji from time to time, reminded him
of it. It was Deenbandhu who had acted as the
‘go-between’ on the present occasion, when he
conveyed to Gandhiji the Poet’s pressing invita-
tion to visit Santiniketan. But by a cruel irony
when that long looked for visit actually came
he was not there to witness it. He " had been
suddenly taken ill a few days before and
removed to the Presidency Hospital, Calcutta, in
a precarious condition. He was more than a
member of the ‘ joint family ’ of Gurudev and
Gandhiji, and the shadow of this domestic illness
overhung and tinged the whole of Gandhiji’s
Santiniketan visit.
A Sacred Remembrance
A small reception had been arranged for
Gandhiji on the afternoon of the day of his
arrival. It was held in the Amrakunja, a spot
rendered sacred by its associations with the
late Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, Gurudev’s
father. It was here, tradition says, that he used
to sit and sometimes remain absorbed in medi-
tation from eventide till daybreak. By his will
he converted it into a place of universal wor-
ship of one Brahma, the Formless and Invisible,
and a sanctuary for aU wild animal life.
The function commenced with a chanting of
the Poet’s favourite Upanishadic text, with the
haunting refrain
“ Those who come to know Him,
They attain to immortality.”
The address of welcome was read by Gurudev
himselfr It was short and impressive. But Gandhiji’s
thoughts were far away with Charlie Andrews
in Calcutta. On a . previous occasion Deen-
bandhu had sung'
And I have seen His face
have seen and known
This sacrament was given.
* ^ »
And I can wait the dawning of the day,
The day-star on my night already shining.
The shadow and the veil shall pass away,
Death shall make true my dreaming.”
And now he lay hovering between life and
death. Gandhiji made a feeling reference to him
in his reply.
**My uppermost feelings on arriving here are
about Deenbandhu, ” he began. “ Perhaps you
do not know that the first thing I did yesterday
morning on alighting from the train at Calcutta
was to pay him a visit in the hospital. Gurudev
is a world poet, but Deenbandhu too has the'
spirit and temperament of a poet in him. He
had long yearned to be present on the present
occasion, to drink in and store up the memory
of every word, movement and gesture relating
to the meeting with Gurudev. But God had
willed it otherwise and he now lies in Calcutta,,
stricken down and unable even to make full use
of his speech. I would like you all to join me in
the prayer that God may restore him to us soon
and, in any case, may grant his spirit peace.
Sweet Old Memories
‘‘I have not come here as a stranger or a
guest. Santiniketan has been more than a home
to me. It was here that the members of my
South African family found warm hospitability
in 1914, pending my arrival from England, and
I too found shelter here for nearly a month.
The memories of those days crowd in upon me
as I see you all, here assembled before me. It
grieves me that I cannot prolong my stay here
as I would have loved to. It is a question of
duty. In a letter to a friend, the other day, I
described my present trip to Santiniketan and
Malikanda as a pilgrimage. Santiniketan has
truly, this time, proved for . me a ‘ niketan ’ of
‘ Santi ’ — an abode of peace. I have come here
leaving behind me all the cares and burdens
of politics, simply to have Gurudev’s darshan
and blessings. I seek often claimed myself to be
an accomplished beggar. But a more precious
gift has never dropped into my beggar’s bowl
than Gurudev’s blessings today. I know his
blessings are with me always. But it has been
my privilege today to receive the same from
him in person, and that fills me with joy.”
Vidyabhawan
The next day the whole morning was devoted
to making a round of all the various depart-
ments of Santiniketan, followed by a visit to
Sriniketan. Kshitishbabu, ‘‘the sole survivor” of
the older group of teachers whom Gandhiji had
contacted during his last visit to and stay at
Santiniketan, acted as the guide. It was a privi-
lege in the Vidyabhawan to meet Haribabu,
the compiler of the Bengali dictionary, who has,
single-handed, after twentyeight years of conti-
March 9, 1940]
HABIJAN
35
jiuous labour completed a work which entitles
him to be ranked with literary giants like Shri
hTagendranath Bose, the author of Bengali
Vishwakosha, and Prof. Murray of the Oxford
Dictionary fame. Sixtyfour volumes of his monu-
mental work, we were told, have already been
published, and the complete set, when it is ready
in another three years’ time, will run into
eighty and cost from 40 to 50 rupees.
In the China Bhawan or the Department of
Chinese Culture, Prof. Tan-Yuan Sen was not
there, being away with the China’s goodwill
deputation that is touring India, but his good
wife was there to meet Gandhiji. Gandhiji was
here shown the library of Chinese books that
the Chinese nation had presented to the Visva-
bharati. The Chinese children, Gandhiji was told,
were not one whit behind any other in establi-
shing a freemasonary with their Santiniketan
chums, and felt quite at home with them
undeterred by the “language difficulty’’,
A Philosopher Prince
In the section of Islamic culture, Gandhiji was
delighted to see an original manuscript transcribed
in his own beautiful caligraphic hand by that
Philosopher Prince — Dara Shikoh, who through
his mysticism arrived at a catholicity and
breadth of religious outlook that was unheard
'of in those days and is rare even in our own. In
■a monograph published by the Department we are
told how he patronised men of all denominations,
saints, theologians, philosophers and poets of
every creed and community, studied Sanskrit,
became deeply interested in the Vedanta and
Yoga philosophy, and from the learned pandits
of Benares and contacts with yogis, initiated him-
self into the practices of Yoga. Denounced by
the fanatical set as a heretic he was neverthe-
less a true Mussalman. In a lengthy introduc-
tion to the Upanishads which he himself trans-
lated into Persian, he has explained how he was
led to their study through his search after
Reality. “ Subtle doubts came into my mind for
which I had no possibility of solution and,
whereas the Holy Koran is almost totally enig.
matical and at the present day the under-
standers thereof are very rare, I became desirous
to collect into one view all the revealed books,
as the very word of God itself might be its
own commentary, and if in one book it be com-
pendious in another book it might be found
diffusive. ’’ Proceeding he adds that as a “mystic
enthusiast and ardent advocate of the unity of
God”, he searched for Reality no matter in what
language, and that in quest for Truth, in the
higher stages of its realisation, religion is of no
•matter.” And so he came to ‘Upanekhats’
“which are a treasury of monotheism.” And
yet it was not that he wanted to raise a hybrid
growth by grafting Hindusim on Islam or vice
versa. As Dr. Yusuf Hussan has pointed out, “he
■was actuated by a desire to prove that both
Islam and Hinduism, in appearance so funda-
mentally dissimilar, are essentially the same. Both
represent spiritual efforts of man to realize Truth
and God.”
In Nandababu’s Sancium
The last to be visited was the Kala Bhawan,
Shri Nandababu’s sanctum sanctorum of art. “Like
Krishna, he hides himself behind his work,” was
the epigramatic description given of him by a
friend to Gandhiji. Retiring, shy, reserved, he
is the pattern of humility and unassuming un-
ostentatiousness. He lives only in and for his art
which he has taken as his spiritual Sadhana. “You
cannot become an artist, ” he is fond of telling
his pupils, “ unless you identify yourself with the
humblest and the meanest of God’s creation. ”,
A gentler soul has hardly ever breathed. All
the children are his chums, and it is a common
sight to see Nandababu make a detour to avoid
a bunch of youngsters engaged in a ‘ lark ’
lest he should intrude upon their ‘ freedom ' !!
“ Art is a jealous and exacting mistress, ” is
another favourite saying of his. But though
fastidious and meticulous to a degree in his
devotion, to his ideal, he has never been known
to send away an aspiring artist without an
encouraging word.
His genius is only matched by his industry.
There is hsirdly a nook or a corner in Santi-
niketan but bears the impress of his art and
industry. A wall to him is only a bed for the
execution of a fresco or a bas-relief panel, a ceil-
ing simply a surface for bearing his cartoons, a
lump of clay plastic material to be turned into
a beautiful model. As a friend remarked half
seriously, half in banter, if Nandababu bad his
way, he would use our great globe itself as
material for turning out some cosmic piece of
art! It gave Gandhiji particular satisfaction and
joy to know that, next to Bengal, Gujarat had
provided Nandababu the largest number of pupils.
Gurudev at Seventynine
Gandhiji had several intimate talks with
Gurudev. But they are of too sacred and,
personal a character for recapitulation here.
At seventynine the Poet’s countenance shows
no diminuition .in its luster, the eyes burn
brighter than ever, the step is firm although
he needs support and moves about only with
difficulty. The voice has lost none of its vigour
or its sonorous musical quality, and the spirit
retains all the freshness and irrepressible exuber-
ance of youth. He insisted upon Gandhiji wit-
nessing the performance of his fiivourite musical
pantomime, Chandalika, in which his grand-
daughter played the principal part. He personally
supervised the rehearsal and even delayed the
programme by a quarter of an hour till he was
satisfied that everything was tip-top. It was a
sight to be remembered when at one stage he
almost jumped to the edge of his seat and broke
out into a musical interpolation to provide the
cue when the performers haul or seemed to have
lost it. His enthusiasm must have got an infecti-
ous quality in it, for I have never seen Gandhiji
follow with such sustained and rapt interest any
36 HAKIJAJN [ MAECH 9, 1940
entertainment as he did this one during the
full one hour that it lasted.
A ‘Saddening Reflection
From a bare spot that Santiniketan is origin-
ally said to have been and notorious for being
the haunt of dacoits, it has under the magic of
Gurudev’s personality grown to its present size,
and yet, as Kshitishhabu remarked to Gandhiji
with a sigh, “ the scholars who arc engaged in
research work are cramped for space, and when
enough accommodation is.forthcoming, who knows,
the present race of scholars at any rate may
have run its course 1”
On train, 26-2-40 • Pyafelal
UNCONVINCING APOLOGIA
Mr. F. £. James has done the courtesy of send-
ing Gandhiji the text of his reply to the
latter’s article “The Fourfold Ruin” that recently
* appeared in Harijati. It is a clever piece of
reasoning, but it is hardly convincing.
Mr. James's quarrel with Gandhiji is that the
inclusion of the fourfold indictment of the
British rule in the pledge is, in the first place
unnecessary and irrelevant, in the second place
it is untrue, and lastly it is provocative.
Let us take the second objection first. For, if
the “fourfold ruin” lacks a historical basis, that
by itself should be enough reason to justify the
deletion of the passage in the pledge under
reference.
Mr. James denies that Britain can be held
guilty of bringing about the economic ruin of
India or the destruction of her cottage industries,
which he contends was inevitable as a result of
the impact of Western industrialism upon the
primitive economy of the East. One is con-
strained to say that Mr. James has here begged
the issue. The question is not whether the
progress of industrialism would have by itself
sufficed to kill Indian cottage industries, but
whether the policy adopted by the British admi-
nistrators with regard to them was not" calcu-
lated to bring about that result. The tragic
story of the levying by Britain of one, two,
even five, hundred per cent and higher import
duties on the Indian textiles, the notorious
* hedge' duties and the Mutarfa tax* or of the
* With regard to it the Hon. Frederick Shore, son
of Lord Teignmouth, in one of his Notes on
Indian Affairs, in reviewing Sir Charles Trevelyan’s
Report, wrote : “ The poor natives of India submit
to all this, as they do to every other extortion and
oppression which they suffer at our hands, because
they look upon redress as hopeless; but hear the
bitter complaints which were made to Lieutenant
Burnes by the merchants of Bokhara. They actually
declared that the vexatious annoyances and extortion
practised on merchants in the British-Indian provinces
were infinitely greater than they experienced in
Eus^, Peshawar,’ Kabool or Bokhara.”
* It was described in a memorandum submitted to
the House of Commons as "a tax upon trades and
occupations, embracing weavers, carpenters)' all workers
inhuman exploitation of the Bengal artisans under
the East India Company which led them to
cut off their thumbs as the only means of escape-
ficom their unendurable lot, is all recorded in
authentic history. Let the curious trim over the
well-documented pages of R. C. Dutt, whose
accuracy has not been challenged in a single
particular, or of Montgomery Martin, and
judge for himself whether human ingenuity could
go further in devising means for the extermi-
nation of a people’s handicrafts, or whether any
system of industry in the world would survive
such sabotage. It is true that the progress of
industrialism had an equally devastating effect
on the cottage industries of Britain. What is
forgotten is that the latter were not sacrificed
to benefit the industry of another nation as-
India’s were for the sake of Britain.
Similarly, Mr. James forgets that, whilst he
energetically repudiates the charge of thrusting
upon India denationalising education, the authors
of our educational system were themselves
refreshingly frank about it. The father of India’s
present-day educational policy made no bones
about it when he declared that the intention,
behind it was “to form a class of persons who
would he Indian in blood and colour, but
English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in
intellect,” nor when he expressed the hope that,
“ if our plans of education arc followed up, there
will not be a single idolater among the respect-
able class in Bengal thirty years hence.”*
Nor is the spiritual deterioration of a nation
under foreign political domination a matter
requiring elaborate historical research; it is a.
question of the evidence of one’s senses. Mr. James
worsens his case when he tries to defend humi-
liating ceremonials on the ground that they owe
very much to India which existed before the
British came. It should be enough that they
are keenly resented by every self-respecting son
of India. Mr. James could not possibly have
forgotten how the “efficiency and skill”, to use
in metals, all salesmen, whether possessing shops
which are also taxed separately, or vending by the
roadside, &c., some paying impost on their tools,
others for permission to sell — extending to the most
trifling articles of trade and the cheapest tools the
mechanic can employ, the cost of which is fre-
quently exceeded six times by the Mutarfa, under
which the use of them is permitted.” “ The discre-
tionary power under which it is collected, ” the-
memorandum went on to add, “affords a wide field
for the perpetual practice of inquisitorial ■visits, extor-
tion and oppression, as suits the pleasure or the-
cupidity of the irresponsible collectors, with whom
it is no unusual thing to resort to imprisonment and.
fetters in order to compel tbeir exactions. And the
whole sum raised by this impost is but little above
£ 100,000 sterling.” — R. C. Butt’s Tht Economic
History oj India in the Victorian Age, Pp. 164-65.
3 Macaulay in 1836 — cited by Edward Thompson
in his Rise and Fulfilment of British Rule in India^,
pages 315 and 317.
Maech 9, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
37
Prof. Keith’s phrase, with which the Princes
were drilled on the occasion of Lord Curzon’s
Durbar nearly precipitated a major crisis in the
relations between the Ruling Chiefs and the
Paramount Power. But since Mr, Tames insists
upon the precise chapter and verse, let him
ponder over the following picked up almost at
random from the pages of Edward Thompson :
" Bentinck’s entertainments were magnificent, and
he achieved fame by permitting Indians to drive
to the Governor-GeneraVs house in carriages.
“ *Oa going to a station no Englishman thought
of calling on the notables of the district, as was
once done as a matter of course; instead, certificates
of respectability were required of the notables before
they could be guaranteed a chair when they visited
the oflScer In Calcutta many writers expected
every Indian to salute them' ” ^ ( Italics mine. )
. Or the following :
“ The racial relations in Bengal continued what
they are still — the amazement of the society of India’s
saner regions. Elphinstone was scornfully aristocratic
‘Cven among his own people. But he knew well that
India bad its own aristocracy, whose friendship was
worth regarding. He told Malcolm (May 24, 1819);
* The picture you draw of the state of India, as
it is likely to be for the next four or five years,
makes me regret that you are so soon to leave it.
It has sometimes struck me that the fault of our
•younger politicians — who have never seen the Indian
States in the days of their power — is a contempt
for the natives, and an inclination to carry every-
-thing with a high hand. ’ ” *
Or take the following from Sir Thomas
Munroe’s minutes to Lord Hastings, As Mr.
Edward Thompson points out, Sir Munroe’s views
are too important for the historian to omit
any fair chance of calling attention to them.
** Foreign conquerors have treated the natives with
violence, and often with great cruelty, but none has
treated them with so much scorn as we ; none has
stigmatised the whole people as unworthy of trust,
incapable of honesty, and as fit to be employed
only where we cannot do without them. It seems
to be not only ungenerous, but impolitic, to debase
the character of a people fallen under our domination.
The strength of British Government enables it
to put down every rebellion, to expel every foreign
invasion, and to give to its subjects a degree of
protection which those of , no Native power enjoy.
Its laws and institutions also allow them security
from domestic aggression, unknown in those states :
but these advantages are dearly bought. They are
purchased by the sacrifice of independence of national
■character and of whatever renders a people respect-
able. The Natives of British provinces may, without
fear, pursue their different occupations and enjoy the
fruits of their labour in tranquillity; but none of
them can aspire beyond this animal state of thriving
in peace,' none of them can look forward to any
4 T. G. P. Spear: The Nabobs, p. 140, cited by
Edward Thompson in his Rise and Fulfilment of
British Rule in India, p. 306. .
5. Ibid p. 306.
share in the legislation or civil or military govern-
ment of their country. The effect of this state of
things is observable in all the British provinces,
whose inhabitants are certainly the most abject race
in India.
The consequence, therefore, of the conquest of
India by the British arms would be in place of
raising, to debase the whole people.**
Mr, James non-chalantly remarks that the
Pledge is repeated in circumstances of unparal-
leled freedom, and argues from this that Britain
has fostered the ideals of self-government in India
for which we ought to be grateful. May we
remind Mr. James that this “ unparalleled free-
dom”, as he calls it, became possible only after
the people had proved their mettle under the
fire of suffering and repression, that more than
one university in India were actually asked to
exclude the writings of Burke and Mill from
their curricula as they tended to foster the spirit
of ‘ sedition and that many a college student
has been made to pay the penalty for betraying
a nationalist bias in university debates or in
answering examination papers?
Full of unconscious irony is Mr. James’s asser-
tion that for the ' first time in her history,
largely through British influence, India * has
understood the meaning and necessity of unity.
This is a strange claim to make on behalf of a
nation whose administrators have perfected the
science of “divide and rule” and used it with
deadlier effect than any other people on earth.
But here again let us hear the truth from the
lips of the Britishers concerned themseilves. It
was a British Commandant at Moradabad, Lt.-
Col. John Coke who about the time of the 1857
rising wrote: “Our endeavours should be to
uphold in full force the (for us fortunate)
separation which exists between the different
religions and races, not to endeavour to amalga-
mate them. ‘Divide et impera’ should be the
principle of Indian Government.” It was Lord
Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay, who in a
minute dated May 14, 1825, wrote: ''Divide et
Impera was the old Roman motto and it should
be ours.” It was Sir Bampfyld Fuller, the
Governor of Lord Curzon’s creation, “ The East
Bengal Province”, who in an oft-quoted address
promulgated the now famous ‘favourite wife’
policy. Again, it was Sir John Maynard, a retired
member of the Executive Council of the Punjab,
who in an article contributed to The Foreign
Affairs, London, wrote:
“ It is, of course, true that British authority could
not have established and could not now maintain
itself but for the fissiparous tendency, of which the
Hindu- Muslim antagonism is one manifestation. It
is also true that the mass rivalry of the two commu-
nities began under British rule. Persecuting rulers
made their appearance from time to time in the
pre-British era, levying tribute on unbelievers or
punishing with fanatical zeal the slaying of kine.
But the Hindu and Muslim masses — before they
had eaten of the tree of knowlege and had become
38
HARIJAN
[ March 9, 1940'
religion-conscious — worshipped peacefully side by
side at the same shrines.”
Lastly, it was no less a person than Lord
Olivier, the Secretary of State for India under
the Ramsay Macdonald Government, who in the
columns of the London Times observed :
“ No one with a close acquaintance with Indian
affairs will be prepared to deny that on the whole
there is a predominant bias in British officialdom in
favour of the Muslim community, partly on the
ground of closer sympathy but more largely as a
make-weight against Hindu nationalism.”
Nor has India forgotten the way Sir Samuel
Hoare torpedoed the Allahabad unity talks by
going out of his way to concede to the separa-
tion of Sindh mthout joint electorates when the
Mussalman representatives in the Conference
had already agreed to joint electorates on the
condition that Sindh was constituted into a
separate province.
Thus though British rule has brought home
to India the meaning and necessity of unity in
a sense as nothing before had, that is not the
sense in which Mr. James perhaps means it or
of which Britain can be proud.
Mr. James has objected to the inclusion of
Gandhiji’s fourfold indictment in the Pledge on
the ground of relevancy. There would be some
force in the objection if the fourfold ruin to
which the Pledge calls attention were no more
than a mere historical memory, a matter of
academic interest only, instead of being an
ever-present reality, that under a changing face
confronts us at every turn. The “Lee loot” is
only a continuation of an earlier tradition.® The
cry of vested “European interests” has a familiar
ring to one who has studied the records of the
Honourable East India Company’s “investments”^
Clive had warned, the Directors (August 28
1767) of what was coming, the jobbery, that be-
setting curse of Indian administration, which the
astonishing evidence of India's inexhaustible riches
was to set up; *the great will interfere in your
appointments, and noble men will perpetually solicit
you to provide for the younger branches of their
families.’...It did, and immediately, Directors and
Directors* relatives, peers, even the Royal Family, saw
no reason why they should not push a young friend or
dependant into a service which within an incredibly
brief period would bring him back enormously enrich-
ed.” —( Edwaxid Thompson & G. T. Garratt:jRwe
& Fulfilment of British Rule in India^ p. 108,
7 ** Hastings came to see Mir Qasim and used
his eyes as he went up country : ‘ I have been sur-
prised to meet with , several English flags flying in
places which I have passed; and on the river I do
not believe that I passed a boat without one. By
whatever title they have been assumed ( for I could
only trust to the information of my eyes, without
stopping to ask questions), I am sure their frequency
can bode no good to the Nawab’s revenues, to the
quiet of the country or the honour of our nation,
but evidently tends to lessen each of them. A party
and the hundred and fifty crores’ “gift” whicb-
Britain made to herself out of India’s pocket,,
is not diflFerent in character from the earlier*
spoliations of Clive, Warren Hastings and the
harpies of the East India Company, which shock-
ed their contemporaries but made the hero of
Plassey, so far as he was concerned, only “stand",
astonished at his own moderation”.®
Lord Morley on one occasion remarked that
lack of courtesy on the part of Englishmen,
reprehensible everywhere, was in India a crime,.
The remark, I think, applies equally to ignorance
about the basic facts of British rule in India^.
particularly the Indian viewpoint. There is no-
greater obstacle to the realization of justice in
Indo-British relationship, than the belief shared
by many good Englishmen, in common with Mr..
James, that the operation of British rule has on
the whole been beneficent to India. It is this
belief that makes Mr. James and his countrymen
find offence in the reference to India’s “ four-
fold ruin” under British domination, instead of
a ground for heart-searching and introspection. -
It is again this belief which makes them regard.
Indian independence as a “gift” to be granted
or withheld at Britain’s discretion, instead of a
matter of detatched justice calling for unilateral)
reparation on their part. As Chalmers used tO'
say, duty will be merit when debt becomes
donation.
Thus, I hope, I have proved that the reference
to the fourfold ruin is true and, since it- continues,^
it is relevant, and, being relevant, ought not to be
provocative to any just-minded Englishman. The
case for independence would lose its point if
the rulers, having begun by plunder,® had of
of sipahis, who were on the march before us, afforded'
us sufficient proof of the rapacious and insolent spirit
of these people when they are, left to their own
discretion. Many complaints were made against thenr
on the road, and most of the petty towns and'
sarais were deserted on our approach, and the shops
shut up from the apprehensions of the same treat-
ment from us.*
Hastings protested : * The Nawab has granted a-
boon to his subjects and there are no grounds for
demanding that a sovereign prince should withdraw
such a boon, or for threatening him with a war’
in the event of refusal.’ ” ( Edward Thompson &*
G. T. Garratt : Op Cit, p. 103. )
8*‘Am I not rather deserving of praise for the
moderation which marked my proceedings ? Consider
the situation in which the victory at Plassey had’
placed mel A great prince was dependent on my
pleasure, an opulent city lay at my mercy; its
richest bankers bid against each other for my smiles;
I walked through vaults which were thrown open tO'
me alone, piled on either hand with gold and jewels!
Mr* Chairman, at this moment I stand astonished at'
my own moderation!” (Clive before Select Parlia-
mentary Committee)
9 ” Nature lightened the unhappy ryot’s problem
in 1770 when such a famine ravaged Bengal that
one-third of the natives were believed to have-
llARCH 9, 1940 1
HARIJAN
39
’their own will later repented of it and made
common cause with the people. Does it not
■occur to Mr. James that, if they had, India
would today be a free county, living in honour-
■able partnership with Britain? The reverse is the
•tfact. India’s fourfold ruin still continues. She is
■still being bled for Britain's sake. Hence Britain’s
■reluctance to part with power.
Maiikanda, 25-2-40 Pyarelal
HARIJAN SEVAK SANGH
[ The following are some excerpts from the
-.summary of the proceedings of the annual
meeting of the Harijan Sevak Sangh circulated
'by the General Secretary. ]
The seventh annual meeting of the All India
Harijan Sevak Sangh was held at Harijan Nivas,
'Delhi, on 11th and 12th February under the
presidentship of Sheth G. D. Birla, President of
the Sangh. In all 40 members and representa-
tives were present. Reports from the various
provinces were presented and discussed. The
reports showed that at present a large number
• of educational centres were being run by the
Sangh. In all there were 96 free hostels and
.ashrams run by the Sangh’s branches, out of
which 10 were girls’ hostels. The largest number
s.of hostels were in Andhra, 26 in all. The
-Sangh is running cottage tanning centres in
Bengal and Tamil Nad, industrial and agricul.
•tural centres at Barama in Assam, Delhi, Navsati,
.Allahabad, Guntur, Ranchi, Bangalore, Conjee-
varam, Kodambakam ( Madras ), , Trivandrum,
'Devacottai, etc. The Sangh through its various
-agencies has constructed or repaired about 300
•wells during the year. The Sangh in all spent
•about Rs. 350,000 during the year. Rs. 42,543
were spent on administration, Rs. 6,297 on
.propaganda, and the rest on welfare work among
the Harijans, as schools, hostels, medical work,
construction and repairs of wells, scholarships,
-etc. The Andhra Branch of the Sangh spent the
largest amount, viz. Rs. 43,365, during the year.
lBut the most important work of the Sangh was
the organisation of the Tamil Nad temple entry
campaign and the consequent opening of the
famous Meenakshi temple of Madura and Palni
Temple followed by a number of other temples.
The Central Office at Delhi alone received Rs.
'72,000 as donations during the year, mostly
through Gandhiji and the President of the
Sangh.
-.perished by sickness and famine. This was Hastings’s
• own estimate; some English eye-witnesses put the
deaths at one-half the population which was probably
^about fifteen millions. We may cautiously accept a
fifth as the true proportion. The principal Naib
Muhammad Reza Khan, collected the revenue almost
fully, adding 10 per cent (the mjay cess, a recog-
mized exaction by which the living made good revenue
losses whi.ch were to other taxpayers having been so
unpatriotic as to die); and the Company’s servants
iptofiteered in necessities.” (Edward Thompson &
•G. T. Garatt. Op Cit 109-110)
As regards the disbursement of Rs. 10,000
received through Gandhiji from Late Laia
Ramchand Khanna of Wazirabad for medical
work among Harijans, the Sangh resolved to
invite schemes for its utilisation from the
branches of the Sangh. The Sangh accepted
the offer of land and buildings of the value
of about a lac of rupees from the Wadhwan
(Kathiawad ) Education Society for starting a
new centre of Harijan welfare work.
Shri G. D. Birla, Shrimati Rameshwari Nehru,
Shri A. V. Thakkar, Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh,
Shri T. D. Pustake, Shri Mahabir Prasad Poddar,
Shri L. N. Gopalaswamy and Shri Parikshitlal
Majmudar were appointed members of the
Executive Committee of the Sangh for 1940.
Including the two earmarked sums of
Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 5,000, Rs. 137,991 were re-
ceived for Thakkar Jayanti Fund, Rs. 20,000 are
for the Central Board, and Rs. 5,000 for the
construction of sweepers’ quarters at Ujjain.
25 per cent of the total collections will be spent
by Shri A. V. Thakkar for Aboriginal welfare
and 75 per cent for Harijan work. A sum of
Rs. 30,000 has been set apart out of this for
awarding scholarships to Harijan girls for 5 years
for Higher Vocational Education, and a separate
sub-committee consisting of Shrimati Rameshwari
Nehru, Shri A. V. Thakkar, Rajkumari Amrit
Kaur, Shri Parikshitlal Majmudar and Shri
Shyamlal has been formed in this connection.
The Sangh expressed satisfaction at the adult
literacy campaign organised by the Indore H. S.
Sangh, and hoped that other provinces would
also start similar literacy campaigns in their
respective areas. The Sangh accepted with thanks
an offer of Rs. 10,000 from Shrimati Rameshwari
Nehru, its Vice-President, for starting a residen-
tial industrial institute for girls to be located in
Delhi, and resolved to take the necessary steps
for starting the same.
The question was raised as to the Sangh’s
policy towards propaganda. Little or nothing
has been spent by the Sangh for propaganda.
The Board made it clear that it was not the
expenditure on propaganda that was objected to,
but the employment of paid pracharaks. Pro-
paganda of the right type carried on by con-
vinced reformers was not only not objected to
but was welcomed. Such was Gandhiji’s tour
of 1933-34. Provincial organisations may, there-
fore, invite noted reformers to tour their
provinces. A. V. Thakkar
Some Recent Books
S. K. George — Gandhi’s Challenge to
Christianity 2-10
L. P, Jacks — Revolt E^ainst Mechanism 1-14
J, C. Kumarappa — C. P. Industrial
Survey Repot Part I Vol. I
.. II .. I
I „ , II
Thakkar Committee s Report on
C. P. Sweepers’ condition 1 — 2 0 — 2
Available at (1) Harijan office — 'Poona 4; (2) Harijan
office — 81 Queen’s Road, Bombay 2.
Price Postage
0—3
0—2
0-10 0—2
0-12 0—2
1—4 0—4
40
HARIJAN
[ March 9, 1940
A VISIT TO DEENBANDHU
Deenbandhu Charlie Andrews’ numerous friends
here and abroad will be greatly relieved to learn
that he is now considered by his doctors to be
out of any immediate danger, Gandhiji, who
visited him again on his return from Malikanda,
found him still very weak, but otherwise there
was a marked, all-round improvement. The
eflfect of the mild paralytic stroke which had
followed the preliminary operation was nearly
over, the kidney function had largely been
restored, and Gandhiji had the satisfaction
of being told that, if and when the second
operation was decided upon, the most competent
surgeon in Calcutta would be invited to
perform it.
Deenbandhu was apparently feeling quite at
home in his well-ventilated cheery room. He
was eager to know all about Gandhiji’s Santi-
niketan visit and the meeting with Gurudev.
The reference to the Poet put him in that
expansive mood when one feels with 'the poet
That miss the many-splendoured thing.
But ( when so sad thou canst not sadder }
Cry; — and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.*^
A strange peace settled on his face as I
proceeded:
Yea, in the night, my soul, my daughter,
Cry, clinging Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Gennesareth, but Thames !
And who wrote Borodada, I chaffed him, as I*
rose to take leave :
** But have seen His face — have seen and known.
This sacrament was given.
And 1 can wait the dawning of the day,
The day-star on my night already gleaming,
The shadow and the veil shall pass away.
Death shall make true my dreaming.”
He replied with a faint smile, “I thinks,
I wrote something like that! ”
On the train to Wardha 3-3-40 Pyarelal
that
“ God’s in His heaven,
All’s right with the world I ’
Everything that Gandhiji told him was ‘ won-
derful ‘ marvellous ’, * perfect He referred to
the European struggle which had been exercis-
ing his mind even on his sick-bed, and then
added, as if describing something that he saw
with the eye of faith, ” But Bapu, Swaraj is
coming. I see it coming. India will be free. ’*
“Tknow it,” replied Gandhiji. “Do you know?”
resumed Deenbandhu. “ I am quite reconciled to
my illness. I think it was God’s blessing in dis-
guise. It has given me a wonderful experience
which I would never otherwise have had.” He
struggled hard to recall Francis Thompson’s lines
without success, I asked him if he was thinking
of Francis Thompson’s “ In no strange land ” :
“O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee. ”
His countenance lit up with joy, and he began
slowly to fumble out the succeeding lines : •
‘'Does the fish soar to find the ocean.
The eagle plunge to find the air —
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumour of thee there ?
Not where the wheeling systems darken.
And our benumbed conceiving soars —
The drift of pmions, would we hearkei;.
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors. ”
He again fell into a inuse, “ O, it is marvell-
ous, that description of the sweep of the angels’
wings,” he slowly muttered, his eyes half closed
and a deep introspective look on his face. I
supplied the lines :
The angels keep their ancient places; —
Turn but a stone, and start a wing;
*Tis ye, ’tis your estranged faces,
To Correspondents and Message-seekers
In spite of my notice in Harijan of Decem-
ber 23rd those who can spare me continue tCf
write and ask for messages. I would refer them
to the notice for fuller explanation. I know
several intimate friends have not received acknow-
ledgments or messages. They will forgive me.
I have to harden my heart if I am to cope
-with the responsibility I am carrying. And what
can be better than that I should commence with
known friends?
Sevagram, 15-1-40 M. K. G.
To Agents
In view of the several complaints recently received
from agents about non-receipt of book post packets
containing copies of Harijan^ we now take certifi-
cates of posting on all the packets. Our responsibi-
lity ends with the proper posting of the copies, and
we would ask our agents, in case of non-receipt,
to complain to the Post office. Manager
CONTENTS Page
Gandhi Seva Sangh — II
M. D,
25
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi 29
An Interlude at
Santiniketan
Pyarelal
31
When ?
M. K* Gandhi 32
India and the War
32
W^AT Resolution Means ...
M. K. Gandhi 33
The Santiniketan Pilgrimage
pyarelal
34
Unconvincing Apologia
Pyarelal
3&
Harijan Sevak Sangh
A. V. Thakkar 39
A Visit to Deenbandhu
Pyarelal
40
Notes:
■ Segaon Becomes Sevagram...
M. K. G.
28
When the British Withdraw
M. K, G.
28
Clear Injustice
M. K. G;
28
Skimmed Milk
• M* K. G.
28
Pub^ed by Vith^ Hari Barve at the Axyabhushan Press- 915/1 Fergusson College Road. Poona 4
SnlMciiptaon RatM — Inlaitd : One year. Be. 4, Bi± monthi, Be. 8-8, FOKBlon : One year. Be. or. 8 eh. or 1 1.
Editor : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. VIE, No. 5 ] POONA — SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
NOTICE
The business hours of our Bombay branch will
hereafter be from 11 a. M. to 7—30 p. m. Readers will
please note the change. Address ; 67 & 81 Queen's
Road, Bombay 2. Manager
QUESTION BOX
Do I Distrust the Viceroy ?
Q. Does not your identifying yourself with
the Patna resolution of the Working Committee
betray distrust in Lord Linlithgow, although
you have professed to believe in his sincerity ?
A. You have read into the resolution what
is wholly unwarrantf by the text. I do not
doubt the Viceroy's s ncerity. I have not known
a Viceroy who has weighed his words as Lord
Linlithgow does. It is a pleasure to have a talk
with him. For he speaks with the greatest
deliberation. His speech is, therefore, always
brief and to the point. I adhere to the remark
I made about our last meeting that, although
we could not agree, we had come nearer each
other. We might have gone on talking for a
few days, but we would only have talked round
the subject and repeatedly come to the same
point of disagreement. I was under no handi-
cap for I was speaking for myself. He was
under a severe handicap. He was speaking
under orders. He had no authority to go
outside his instructions. And so we parted
the best of friends. But so far as I am con-
cerned, I expect many more meetings. The reso-
lution makes the Congress position cleat beyond
doubt. It represents also my own position. If
the British Government really mean full-hearted
Dominion Status with the right to secede, then
they can have no difficulty in accepting the
Congress position. Unfortunately Lord Zetland’s
interview shows that it is not India which is to
determine her future but Britain will do so for
her. This is not even Dominion Status of any
known variety. Once the British Government are
sure that they can no longer hold India, all
the difficulties that are now being put forth on
their behalf will vanish like darkness before
dawn. For they are all of their creation. They
are inherent in exploitation. I hope you now
see that there is no question of distrust of the
Viceroy. Events had to move to where they are.
Fear of Tsms’
Q. You say that no such thing as Gandhism
exists, and that what you stand for is nothing
new. I am a Muslim. I see flashes of Islamic
glory in Gandhism. As a student of theology I
see the grandeur of Hinduism and the vigour
of Christianity amply expounded in Gandhism.
It includes also to a considerable extent the
chaste philosophy of the entire East. I search
the pages of India’s past history, but your creed
I do not find. Why, therefore, is it not new,
and why may it not be termed Gandhism for
those of us who believe in you and therefore
it?
A. I have a horror of ‘ isms ’, especially when
they are attached to proper names. Even if all
that you say of me is true, it does not make
a new sect. My effort is to avoid not only
new sects but even to do away with old and
superfluous ones. Ahimsa abhors sects. Ahimsa
is a unifying force. It discovers unity in diversity.
All that you say is derivable from ahimsa. To
bring into being a new cult is repugnant to
ahimsa, to the very experiment I am making.
Thus you will, I hope, see that there is no
room for ‘ Gandhism ’.
Women and Their Work
Q. You say, It is degrading both for man
and woman that woman should be called upon
or induced to forsake the hearth and shoulder
the rifle for the protection of that hearth. It
is a reversion to barbarity and the beginning
of the end.” But what about the millions of
female labourers in fields, factories, etc. ? They
are forced to forsake the hearth and become
‘ bread winners’. Would you abolish the indus-
trial system and revert to the stone age? Would
that not be a reversion to barbarity and the
the beginning of the end? What is the new
order that you envisage where the sin of
making women work will be absent ?
A. If millions of women are forced to forsake
their hearth and become bread winners, it is
wrong, but not so wrong as shouldering the
rifle. There is nothing inherently barbarous ia
labour, I see no barbarity in women voluntarily
working on their fields whilst they are looking
after their homes. In the new order of my
imagination, all will work according to their
capacity for an adequate return for their labour.
Women in the new order will be part-time
workers, their primary function being to look
after the home. Since I do not regard the rifle
as a permanent feature in the new order, its
use will be progressively restricted even so far
as men are concerned. It will be tolerated
as a necessary evil while it lasts. But I would
42
HAEIJAN
[ Maeoh 16, 1940
not deliberately contaminate women with the
•evil.
Reman Script?
Q. Why may not the illiterate masses be
taught the Roman script? This would eliminate
the existing controversy between Urdu and Hindi.
A. To teach the Roman script in the place
of Hindi and Urdu would be like putting the
cart before the horse. Our children have first to
learn both Hindi and Urdu scripts. Difficult
questions cannot be solved by ignoring them or
suggesting apparently easy substitutes. So long
as hearts are divided the Roman script will
not cement them. It would be an additional
burden. The learning of the two* scripts is the
best and the easiest way of at least solving the
national language riddle. It opens Hindi and
Urdu thought to both Hindu and Muslim boys
and girls who will be the men and women of
the future generation. The Roman script will
be learnt at its proper time, i, e. when our boys
and girls are taught the English language, as
some undoubtedly will be.
Kow to Begin?
Q. Congress clamours for unity, but the prin-
ciples which must be followed to attain that
unity, vis. Hindu-Muslim fellow feeling, no caste
distinctions, no harted towards each other or
towards foreigners, co-operative endeavour, all
these are presented to audiences through the
microphone but not acted upon. Tell me what
are the duties of a Congress member. I would
love to join and will put forth all my energy
to do my bit for the country.
A. You need not mind what others do or
ought to do. Charity begins at home. Let yours
begin with yourself. Abolish all caste and reli-
gious or race distinctions from your heart. Be
true to everyone — Hindu, Muslim, Harijan, English
etc, as you are, I hope, to yourself, and you
will find that so far as you are concerned your
difficulty will be solved and your example will
be copied by others. Be sure that you have
banished all hate from your heart, and that
you have no political or other objective in
loving and serving your neighbour as if
your own self.
Sevagram, 12-3-40
he
was
Some Books by
Gandhiji
Price
Postage
Satyagraha in South, Africa
Rs. 4
8
0
8
My Early Life
1
0
0
2
Speeches and Writings
4
0
0
9
Cent Per Cent Swadeshi
1
8
0
5
Hind Swaraj
0
4
0
2
From Yeravda Mandir
0
2
0
1
Self-Restraint v. Self-Indulgence
Parts I & II ( each)
1
0
0
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Mahatma Gandhi
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GANDHI SEVA SANGH
III
The Spinning Ritual
Quite the most important part of the daily
routine of the Sangh members was sacrificial
spinning. Every year there used to be an hour
set apart for this ritual. This year Prafullababu
decided, in consultation with Kishorelabhai, to
have it for two hours daily, as the usual pro-
gramme for some form of body labour in the
village had been dropped. There was no work
on which the two or three hundred people
could be engaged at a time, and so the decision
to double the period of the spinning interval
was quite appropriate.
The bare actual result of this ritual is worth
noting. This year’s figures will not be ready
until the yarn is turned into cloth, but they
may be judged from the last year’s result which
was available just on the day we were about
to break up. The yarn was sorted and sent
to the weaver in two batches. The superior
sort yielded 57 yards of khadi 45" wide
of beautiful texture, and the inferior counts
yielded 12 yards of 27" width. This year the
result will be nearly treble as, apart from
the time being double, the number of spinners
was larger and the spinning went on for a day
more. Calculating it in round numbers, 300
spinners must have produced about 150 yards
of cloth in five days, i. e. half a yard each.
This is a conservative estimate, for five days’
spinning at the rate of 300 yards per hour
should give four-fifths of a yard of cloth of
20 counts. What a good thing it would be if
we could insist on every conference or meeting
beginning with a spinning ritual of, say, at least
half an hour. In this connection it my be noted
that the Ratnagiri District Congress Committee
has actually made such a rule, and has appealed
for at least 1,000 spinners prepared to make to
the Congress an annual donation of 10,000 yards
of yarn. The Gandhi Seva Sangh members donat-
ed in five days one-fourth of the annual sacrifice
expected of every member of the Congress.
Hindus, Mussalmans, Christians have all their
periods of lent. Without being members of any
Sangh, if they made up their minds to do a
couple of hours’ spinning on these days of fast-
ing (or semi-fasting) and prayer, they can easily
donate in 20 days all that the nation expects of
them. As regards the other results they are per-
haps more valuable. Two hours’ silent spinning
is a healthy spiritual exercise which anyone may
perform with benefit. It adds to one’s peace
and mental equipoise and power of concentra-
tion. And one finds — as I actually found — that
every day one improves the quality and quantity
of one’s yarn. The essential is that a silent hour
or even a half-hour must be set apart for the
ritual. Lastly, to watch these three hundred odd
spinners doing their silent spinning for a couple
of hours was a study in many respects. The in-
diflferent spinner could compare himself with the
March 16, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
43
practised spinner in many ways. The former found
that he appeared for the ritual less equipped than
the latter — he forgot to examine his wheel before
he came, he had no spare string, he had no oil
and had to borrow it from his neighbour, he had
to interrupt his spinning often because of these
lapses, and his thread broke oftener than that
of the others. A careful practice is thus bound
to make one precise, methodical and careful
not only in spinning but in every detail of life.
Prafuilahahus Battalion
From this point of view the pledge taken by
Prafullababu’s co-workers, numbering about three
hundred, of spinning 60,000 yards per year is
significant. If they do their spinning regularly,
methodically, and in a proper religious spirit,
the three hundred can easily increase to a bat-
talion of 1,000. These may or may not become
Congress members, they will certainly not think of
having any responsible positions in the Congress,
but they will qualify themselves as members of
the non-violent army that Gandhiji is looking
forward to before he can advise the country —
if indeed he has to — to launch civil disobedi-
ence. In fact as a matter of preparation it may
be well to expect every captain of a battalion
to certify that every unit in it has done regular
and ritual spinning for at least some months. If
we are in right earnest, we can organise spinning
on this basis everywhere, and the certificates
would be enough guarantee that those who hold
them will go through the fire without infringing
their creed in any way. The soldiers under this
test may be very few, but the quality will be
ensured and every risk will be minimised.
The Exhibition
The Exhibition was a neat little affair, quite
useful and educative. The central khadi court
contained exhibits of the yarn ( and cloth made
out of it ) spun by numerous workers in Bengal.
Some of the samples were as high as 40 counts.
In the centre of the court was a spinner spinning
80 counts of beautiful even yarn. Most of the
khadi exhibits were from the various production
centres of Bengal, and there were among these
samples of fascinating designs of weaving.
Among the stalls that surrounded this main
court the most interesting, in my opinion, was
the hand-made paper stall showing the actual
process of pulp-making and paper-lifting by
indigenous instruments and also of polishing and
cutting. The raw materials for the pulp were
varied, quite a novel one being the fibrous
fruit of the pestilential water-hyacinth of
Bengal. The paper made out of this fibre
was the most durable of the samples exhibited
there. The.» makers were all Mussalmans.
Among other interesting stalls were the pottery
and the silk stalls. The latter showed the actual
process of silk-rearing and silk-spinning. One
wondered how the man in charge of boiling
cocoons was quickly collecting the threads from
the boiling water. Dr. Prafulla Ghosh was put
in mind of the famous Bunsen who handled red
hot liquid glass, and thought of the day when
we too may have our Bunsens from these wield-
ers of village crafts which are now being revived.
There were women showing different processes of
spinning waste-silk, resembling the making of
vermicelli. There was the quicker way and the
slower way, the organisers expecting the women
employing the latter method to copy the former.
The pottery stall showed the Bengal village
pottery at its best. A potter’s family was there
making various samples, and there w^as a small
kiln attached to the stall showing the process
of baking and enamelling and polishing. When
I thought of the miserable pottery at Segaon
( Sevagram ) and also of the ineflBcient carpentry
and masonry, at the same time, I wondered if we
could not organise interprovincial tours for our
craftsmen. From Darjeeling and its neighbourhood
had been brought two Bhudya women busy with
their wool and indigenous dyes, and their hand-
made blanket was one of their proud exhibits.
Another interesting stall was the conch-bangle
stall. Making of bangles from conches ( imported
from the Coromandel coast) is a speciality of
Dacca. A stall, quite interesting for the farmer,,
was the one put up by the Dhakeshwari Cotton
Mill, demonstrating the possibility of the grow-
ing of the high-staple cotton in Bengal. There
was little cotton being grown in Bengal, except
in parts of the Tippera district. Experiments
had now been successfully made, and it had
been found that cotton of 1 to 1-J inch staple
could be produced in Bengal. A pamphlet issued
in Bengali by Shri Subinoy Bhattacharya of the
Bengal Millowners* Association was being freely
distributed. This shows details of places grow-
ing cotton plants 4 feet high, with 60 bolls to
each plant, and producing cotton of 7/8 to 1
inch staple, plants growing 7 feet high, with ISO
bolls, and producing cotton of a li to inch
staple, and plants growing 7 feet high, with as
many as 262 bolls, and producing cotton of 1^''
to 1^" staple. The seeds can be had on appli-
cation to the Second Economic Botanist, Bengal^
P. O. Tejgaon, Dacca.
Other interesting stalls which had nothing to
do with the crafts were the sanitation and
hygiene stalls with instructive and interesting,
charts in Bengali, which are very essential in
every exhibition meant for the villager, looking to
the heavy toll taken every year by malaria, kala
azaar, and cholera. These proved very attractive,.
The New President
Shri Kishorelal Mashruwala’s successor as presi-
dent of the altered Sangh is Shri Shrikrishnadas
Jajuji. As unobtrusive and unassuming as his
predecessor he is perhaps less contemplative
and more practical. He had a brilliant academic
career, having won first class honours every-
where, and was a lawyer of repute, but gave up
practice years ago and has been giving all his
time to public work. He is a member of the
A. I. V. I. A. Board, was president of it until
a little while ago, and is president of the
44
HARIJAN
[March 16, 1940
Maharashtra Charkha Sangh. He belongs to the
Mar wadi community, and his speech in reply
to the reception given to him by his community
in Calcutta, on return from Malikanda, was
quite characteristic of his life and thought. This
is a free translation of what he said in Hindi :
“When I address meetings of poor agricul-
turists I ask them to learn how to add to their
scanty income. But when I am in front of a
Marwadi audience, I ask them to find out ways
and means of reducing the burden of their
wealth. They are ‘ cursed ’ with ‘ great posses-
sions and it would be a blessing for them to
reduce them and to learn a little sacrifice. And
in this connection I should like to leave a
thought with you. I give a much higher place
to sacrifice than to donating out of superficial
wealth. Therefore the more we reduce our
ill-gotten gains the better for us. Then there
are many of you who regard yourselves as sana-
tanists and believers in Varnashramadharma. If
you belief in the four ashramas, it behoves
you after having made your pile as householders
grihasthas — to be trustees for what you have
earned, by taking to vmaprasthashram. ”
As one who endeavours to live up to his
principles he is a worthy successor of Kishore-
lalbhai, and one may fully hope that the Sangh
with its new ideals and new plan of work will
flourish under his guidance. ( Concluded )
Sevagram, 11-3-40 Mi D.
FOR ENGLISHMEN
( By M. K- Gandhi )
Thus writes a very responsible Englishman to
a common friend. The receiver sends it to me
for answer:
“ I have just been reading with very real concern
the text of the resolution which the Working Com-
mittee adopted yesterday. I am writing as a very
■ordinary Englishman who has been interested in India
for a good many years. One of my pleasantest dis-
coveries out here has been to find a much closer
affinity in outlook between Indians and Englishmen
than I . had ever ventured to expect. I do not
, believe that my sympathy with or attitude towards
Indian .aspirations is in any way peculiar to myself:
the views I hold, even if they are not those of the
older type of 1. C. S. or Army officer, are pretty
generally held by a large number of Englishmen.
I can speak with some confidence on this point
as I am in fairly close touch with several people
who exercise some influence over English opinion
and have been working with increasing success
to create an atmosphere favourable to granting
India’s demand for full dominion status. What are
we to make of the Committee’s latest move and of
what appears to be the rather sudden and drastic
change from a demand for dominion status to one
for complete independence ? I have far too great
a respect for Gandhi ji and the other Congress
leaders I have met to believe it is either bluff or
arises from a hasty resentment at our regrettably
unforthcoming attitude during the early negotiations.
They ought to know us well enough by now to
realise how difficult we find it to do the handsome
thing in a handsome way; and yet on the whole
I- think it is our manners which are at fault more
often than our intentions.
If, therefore, the resolution must be taken to
mean what it says and we are invited to remove
ourselves bag and baggage forthwith, I cannot help
asking you very seriously whether you are really
able to rule India without any help from us.
When I was up on the Frontier last summer I
met a number of large and fierce gentlemen who
were literally gloating at the prospect of enjoying
themselves at India’s expense once the English were
gone. There are also, I believe, other parties who
would not hesitate to exploit the difficulties of the
new Indian Republic. Non-violence is, I admit, a
powerful weapon against people with some prejudices
against the physical coercion of those who do not
defend themselves, but I doubt its effectiveness
against those who regard the whole idea with
contempt. Can you keep these forces in order
or are we to contemplate handing India over to ad*
ministrative chaos and possible, even probable, civil
war? You may say that that is your affair and if
such difficulties arise you will deal with them in
your own way» but that does not ease my mind.
I am not concerned to defend either the circumstan-
ces under which we got control over India in
view of her defenceless condition in the latter part
of the 18th century some other Power would no doubt
have taken advantage of it, if we had not — nor
the way we have treated her since, for the worse
our record may be made to appear the more incum-
bent it is upon us, in my opinion, not to divest our-
selves of our responsibilities, of the penalties of our
own misdeeds if you like, until there is an equally
stable as well as a more enlightened administration
ready to take over from us. I know that if I heard
six months after we left India that Hindus and
Muslims were killing one another in the face of an
impotent government, I should not feel without blame,
and I am certain that many Indians and other people
as well would point to it as the evil legacy of British
domination. I cannot therefore persuade myself that
we English can fairly leave India until we have put
her in a position to stand firmly on her own feet.
When that time comes I will go gladly. I believed
it was coming soon but my experience does not
suggest that it has arrived yet. As dominion status
seems to me to be a long step towards it, why is
it unacceptable?
May I turn to another point ? Progressive opinion
in England, which will probably become more or less
permanently in the ascendant after the war, provided
that we win, is I believe genuinely anxious to see
justice done to India, but it is even more anxious
that the cause for which we are now fighting shall
March 16, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
45
prevail. I kaow the East End of London fairly
'well and I can assure you that it is the purest
nonsense to say that the electors of Silver town are
fighting or voting to bolster up British Imperialism .
They realise that we are up against evil things and
that life even under the conditions of dockland is a
better thing than it would be under Nazism. They
know too, or if they do not I am afraid they
will know before they are much older, that
this is going to be a desperate struggle and
that victory, if and when it does come, will
have been bought at a terribly high price. How
-are they going to feel towards those people in India
who by trying to obstruct our war effort at this
critical stage did their best to give that little
push to the scales that might well have meant
defeat ?
You may say, ‘What do we owe to England
and what do we care whether she is defeated or
not ? This is the opportunity we have been waiting
for and we mean to take it. * May I look at such
an argument quite objectively ? Civil disobedience
and the troubles to which it will certainly
give rise will embarrass us seriously and cause
exasperation, if not much worse, between people
who ought to be friends, but I do not see how by
itself it is going to get rid of us, particularly when
we are mobilised. If it is unsuccessful and we win
the war in spite of it, the very people who I firmly
believe would have recognised India's forbearance to
add to our difficulties in the most generous way
will feel a resentment which it will take a genera-
tion to dissipate. If on the other hand you are
able to make us lose the war, do you really believe
that the Germans or Russians will either keep their
hands off India or will be more active in giving
her complete independence than we have been ? If
your answer is ‘no’, then would you sooner be
mled by Nazis or Bolsheviks than by us ?
I do believe I have been honestly sympathetic
towards Congress aspirations and so far as my
limited experience goes have tried honestly to inter-
pret them to friends in England. But this latest
'development I cannot understand or justify either
on grounds of logic or even of expediency. Can you
■help me ? I know I shall be getting enquiries from
home before long and should like to answer them
fairly. At the same time while the generals are
manoeuvring, is there any way in which a private
soldier like myself could be of assistance ? There is
so much goodwill in danger of being wasted.”
The letter represents the thoughts of many
Englishmen who are well disposed towards the
Congress. And yet it betrays a tragic ignorance
of Indian thought. Thus the writer says, “What
are we to make of the Committee’s latest mov e
and of what appears to be the rather sudden
and drastic change from a demand for Dominion
Status to one for Complete Independence ? ”
-Now Complete Independence has been the
definite goal of the Congress since 1929, and
has been repeated every year from thousands
of platforms. From that year to this the
Congress has never even so much as mention-
ed Dominion Status. There is therefore no
change whatsoever in the Congress demand. The
question of suddenness or drasticness simply
does not arise. Confusion arises from my
oft-quoted letter to Mr. Hy. S. L. Polak where-
in I said in 1937 that, if Dominion Status with
the right to secede was offered, I for one would
accept it. I had no authority to bind anyone
else to that statement. Needless to say the offer
was never made. Whatever may be said of me,
no charge of change of policy can be brought
against the Congress. So far as I am concerned
I have changed. Experience since gained and
maturer reflection have led me to think that
Dominion Status even of the Statute of West-
minster variety cannot suit India’s case. I have
only recently given my reasons for the change
of opinion which I need not repeat here.
When the writer thinks that India cannot
yet stand on her own legs, he has not even
Dominion Status in contemplation. For Dominion
Status is nothing if it does not mean the ability
of the Dominion in question to stand by itself.
What the Congress has definitely asked for is
Britain’s declaration that it will give effect to
the decisions of a duly elected Constituent
Assembly. In other words, Britain should recog-
nise the right of India without any outside
interference or influence to determine her own
future. It may be even Dominion Status. It
may be less than Independence or a modified
form of it. It may also be Complete Independ-
ence. The Congress will not lower its flag.
But the Constituent Assembly is not synonymous
with the Congress. This Assembly will include
representatives of all parties who can secure
suflScient votes. Therefore all minorities will be
represented in their full strength.
It is a great pity that even the best of
Englishmen are, as a rule, wofully ignorant of
the Indian claim. They are too self-satisfied to
take the trouble of studying the Indian case. They
will not read nationalist papers. They take their
opinions from the Anglo-Indian papers which
themselves generally betray amazing ignorance
about the thoughts, aspirations and acts of
nationalist India. It has been the lot of the
Congress to be misrepresented from its incep-
tion. I suggest that responsible Englishmen should
meet, say, the best known Congressmen of the
left and the right schools of thought, and I
promise that much misunderstanding will bq
removed. It may be that even then there will
be honest differences of opinion. These will
always exist.
The writer dreads to think what will happen
to India if Englishmen were to vacate the
country bag and baggage. Such a contingency is
inconceivable in a non-violent struggle. The end
of non-violent action is a friendly settlement. If
he means ‘ merely the English soldiers, they will
certainly go if they will not serve Independent
India or if they are not wanted because they arc
too expensive or for any other cause. It must
46
HARIJAN [ MaeCH 16, 1940
not be forgotten that the Indian struggle is
not anti-British, it is anti-exploitation; anti-
foreign-rule, not anti-foreigners. Underlying the
writer’s fear is the possibility of India deciding
upon something beyond its capacity. This honest
English belief in the incapacity of India to come
to a sane judgment or to defend herself against
civil war or foreign aggression is perhaps the
greatest stumbling block in the way of an
honourable settlement. If the fear is justified,
the only antidote is to run the risk and let
India learn wisdom and the art of self-defence
by becoming free. Any other course means
almost perpetual helplessness and foreign domi-
nation. Surely it is better for India, England
and the world that a helpless sub-continent
runs the greatest risk for coming into its own
than that in its sickness it becomes a dead
weight to itself and the world. The distinguished
writer; seems to admit the wrong Britain has
done. It will not be undone by Britain being
the judge of India’s destiny and cherishing the
distant hope that one day India will be fit
enough to shoulder full responsibility for internal
and external defence. The very argument advanc-
ed by the writer against India determining her
future seems to me to be conclusive for ending
British rule at the earliest moment possible.
If the position taken up by me is the correct
one, the Nazi or Bolshevik menace can have no
meaning for nationalist India, especially as its
defence is rooted in non-violence.
But the writer evidently has no faith in non-
violence of the strong. I must wholly disagree
with him when he says, “Non-violence, I admit,
is a powerful weapon against people with some
prejudices against the physical coercion of those
who do not defend themselves, but I doubt its
efficacy against those who regard the whole idea
with contempt.” The real test of non-violence lies
in its being brought in contact with just those
who have contempt for it. The writer would be
right if he were to say that such unadulterated
non-violence has not yet been used by the Con-
gress. The answer would be that I am trying
my utmost to present India and through it
the world with a completed example of non-
violence. I may fail. But I invite Englishmen
to assist the experiment if they have even a
faint belief in the possibility of the exercise of
such non-violence.
With the poor opinion the writer has of the
working of non-violence, it is no wonder that
he trembles at the thought, when the British
retire from India, “of a number of large and
fierce gentlemen who were literally gloating at
the prospect of enjoying themselves at India’s
expense once the English were gone." Is it
like^ that an assembly of elected men and women
who had such a feeu: would sign their death
warrant by asking the English to retire in
order that they may be devoured by “ large and
fierce gentlemen” of the Frontier? I suggest to
the writer that, if and when the Engiich
retire, both the Muslims and the Hindus will
find it profitable to live in peace as they
used to do before the British advent. If there
had been perpetual quarrels, one or the other
would have been wiped out. When real inde-
pendence comes to India, Congresses and Leagues
will be nowhere unless they represent the real
opinion of the country. The presence of the
British bayonet has created an artificial condition
which suppresses the natural play of human
action and demoralises both the suppressed and
the suppressors. Let me also add that the
presence of the British forces has not prevented
riots such as were seen in Sukkur or kidnap-
pings and raids on the Frontier. Whatever
success the forces achieve is after the events
have happened. The sufferers are no better off
for the punitive measures, nor is it possible to
say that at least in the majority of such cases
full reparation is made.
That the Congress resistance at this stage
will embitter the English mind and will be
remembered against India, is a possibility. But
my own experience of human nature, not
excluding the British, is that bitternesses are
forgotten when parties wish to come together.
The suggestion presupposes the crushing of
civil disobedience. There is no such thing in
the civil disobedience dictionary. If there is
violence, it will certainly be crushed because
violence can only end in a disgraceful rout.
There never has been previous preparation;
the people themselves will be bewildered. They
would not know what to do. But if, in
spite of all the precautions I may take for a
non-violent struggle, bitterness is still to be the
residue, even that risk has to be run. Before
the throne of the Almighty man will be judged
not by his acts but by his intentions. For God
alone reads our hearts. Freedom’s battles are not
fought without paying heavy prices. Just as man
would not cherish the thought of living in a
body other than his own, so do nations not like
to live under other nations however noble and
great the latter may be. Englishmen who are
undergoing tremendous sacrifices for preserving
their freedom should not fail to appreciate India’s
travail. The Congress does not say, "Give us
Congressmen what we want.” It says to the
Rulers, “Not you but the elected representatives
of the nation should decide its fate.” If such a
reasonable proposition is circumvented, what
should the Congress do ?
Sevagram, 11-3-40
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J. C. Kumarappa — C. P, Industrial
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Poona 4 ; (2) Harijan
HARIJAN
47
March 16, 1940 ]
OCCASIONAL NOTES
Playisrg Providence
Mr. Braiisford, the eminent publicist, has in a
recent article explained with remarkable clarity
the reason of the breakdown of the Delhi nego-
tiations. Gandhiji’s brief explanation, he says,
has unfortunately not been understood even
in the Labour Party and so he offers further
explanation ;
“ The central issue on which the negotiations at
Delhi broke down is as vital as it is elementary.
Who is to be the architect of the political structure
within which Indians are to live ? Are we to design
it for them, or are they to plan it for themselves ?
They claim to be a nation. This promise of Domb
nion Status means that we concede their claim.
Very well, then, how do we treat other nations in
a comparable situation ? We hope, in the event of
victory, to bring liberty to the Austrians. It would
never enter our heads to draw up a constitution
for them at Westminster or in Paris. They must
decide for themselves whether they wish to remain
a part of Germany, recovered, as we hope,
for democracy, or to form a separate State.
Is it to be a Republic ? That ip their affair. We
may have our wishes and opinions, but they
must settle all this, and much more, for themselves
at Vienna. And as a matter of course, we should
concede as much even to nations less entitled to
our respect than Austrians. But in the case of
India it is fixed as an obstinate principle in our
rulers' minds that God’s Englishman must plan
the house in which Indians are to live. Our Civil
Servants will do the drafting. Our Parliament clause
by clause will debate the Bill. The votes of white
men responsible to the electors of Govan and
Clapham and Cardiff will decide whether India shall
have two chambers or one, a wide or a propertied
franchise. .. .It is too late in the day for us to play
Providence to this awakened nation. Indians will not
submit to our paternal authority. They stand for
‘ self-determination ' — the right to choose for them-
selves the type of government under which they
shall rule themselves.”
An Analogy
In a very long article on Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru in Life, one of America’s most widely
read journals, Mr. and Mrs, Gunther sum up
the case for India. Barring a statement or phrase
here and there in the Americanese it is a most
lucid statement of the Indian case and must
make the Britisher pause to see how Americans
view our case, ” While the British fight for
democracy in Europe, they deny full democracy
to 350,000,000 Indians who want freedom. Every-
one knows how exceptionally difficult it is for
the Allies to state their war aims. But India
should be a test case for war aims when the
time comes for stating them, ” the authors say.
Then they put down what they describe as
“ an extreme statement of the Indian case, such
as one that Nehru might make.” There is,
however, no extreme-ness about it, for it is
a perfect picture of the condition of things in
India. “ An analogy might be a Japanese
occupation of the United States, ” they say,
trying to put themselves in the Indians’ posi-
tion. “ Suppose that the United States should
crumble into decay, and succumb to civil war
between rival American States, Suppose then
that the Japanese, residents of a distant land,
should invade America, restore order, make
treaties with various local authorities and main-
tain an armed occupation of the land, finally
permitting the Americans a limited degree of
local autonomy. Suppose that the Japanese flag
flew in Washington, and that the Japanese
Viceroy were solely responsible for the conduce
of foreign affairs, finance, law and order. Suppose
that the Japanese milked America of its colossal
industrial production and national income and
meantime starved education. Suppose, finally, it
established swanky clubs which no American
could enter, encourged pro-Japanese puppets
among disloyal Americans, and inflicted on
Americans a stingently organised Japanese Civil
Service. Then suppose the Japanese should
become involved in a war with, say, Britain.
Would the American subjects of Japan be
loyal to Japan ? Or would they not ?”
The Civil Service
The Gunthers have in the hypothetical analogy
rightly referred to the ” stringently organised
Civil Service” in India. This -is an item in the
fourfold ruin of India which critics will do
well to bear in mind. A writer in The Tiew
Review, a monthly issued by the Jesuit
Fathers in India, gives a detailed account of
the Indian Civil Service. “ Though it is now a
high and exalted service,” says the writer, “the
Indian Civil Service has had a humble origin in
the factors and writers of the East India Com-
pany ( who ) later became civil servants....
The salaries of these servants were very low.
The writers were paid £ 5 a year, the factors
£ 15, junior merchants £30, and senior merchants
£40; while the Governor received the princely salary
of £300.” In about a hundred years, i.e. in 1793,
this Service became the ' Covenanted Civil Service
of India’, in contradistinction to the lower un-
covenanted service to which alone Indians were
admitted. The ‘ low ’ salaries led the Civil
Servants to engage in private trade and to
accept ‘ presents and when for years in spite
of orders prohibiting these the abuses continued
the salaries were increased. And yet Lord
Cornwallis, having “ no faith in the integrity
and moral standards of Indians, adopted the
policy of getting everything done by European
agency. All the higher posts were reserved
to Europeans, and Indians had to be satisfied
with subordinate posts.” The salaries were
raised in order to minimise the possibilities
of corruption among the Europeans, and yet
it was integrity and ethics of Indians that
were questioned. “ It was Cornwallis who
raised the salaries of the Civil Servants to a
very high level, thus burdening the country with
48
HARIJAl^
[ March 16, 1940
one of the most, if not the most, expensive Civil
Service in the world. ..Civil Servants had to live
on a level commensurate with the level set up
by the Nawabs In addition to salary the Civil
Servants were given a commission of li per cent
on the revenue collections. This meant that a
collector could earn in all about Rs. 3,000 a
month as long ago as the closing years of the
eighteenth century.” That is to say a collector
over a hundred and fifty years ago was earning
ten times the salary drawn by a European
Governor in 1674, and which salary along with
other salaries detailed above were fixed accord-
ing to the conditions of life in India, The
recent history of the Civil Service with Civilian
Governors drawing as much as Rs. 10,000 per
month, with the “ Lee loot ’ scandal and so on,
is well known.
This Service, which as a critic has said is
neither Indian, nor civil, nor service, and which
being on the one hand the heaviest economic
drain on India has been on the other hand
almost wholly responsible for the continuance of
the stranglehold on India, is a moral outrage
without a parallel in history, and by itself
provides a case for atonement by Britain.
Sevagram, 12-3-40 M. D.
Notes
Jaiprakash Narayan
The arrest of Shri Jaiprakash Narayan is
unfortunate. He is no ordinary worker. He is
an authority on socialism. It may be said that
what he does not know of Western socialism
nobody else in India does. He is a fine fighter.
He has forsaken all for the sake of the deliver-
ance of his country. His industry is tireless. His
capacity for sujffering is not to be excelled. I
do not know what speech has brought him
within the law. But if 124 A or the highly
artificial sections of the Defence of India Act
are to be inspanned for catching inconvenient
persons, then any person whom the authorities
want can be easily brought within the law. I
have said before now that it is open to the
Government to precipitate a crisis if they wish
to. They have every right to do so. But I
have hugged the hope that the fight will be
allowed to develop along its natural course so
long as it keeps strictly non-violent. Let there
be no camouflage. If Shri Jaiprakash Narayan
is guilty of violence, violence should be proved.
What the arrest has done is to make the people
believe that the British Government want to
force the issue. History will then have repeated
itself. During the first Civil Disobedience the
Government had forced the issue by arresting the
Ali Brothers. Is this arrest a prearranged plan,
or is it a blunder committed by an over-zealous
oflScer? If it is the latter, it should be set right.
Sevagram, 12-3-40
" Khadi Banks ’
A correspondent writes :
I believe in khadi. So I must use it. But
my means are limited. So I made it a point to
lay aside Re. 1 per month. Yet I am afraid the
saving is within easy reach of pressing needs. So
I conceive a scheme of ‘ Khadi Banks’. Not only
does the scheme show how the saving could be
effectively turned by purchasers to ensure purchases
of khadi but also to ensure a device of cheapening
khadi to the purchasers without in any way injuring
the interests of the wage-earners.
All those who are khadi-lovers and all those who
cannot afford to save enough to make khadi
purchases at a time may patronise such banks. An
amount of money be deposited at a time or at suitable
intervals with a certified A. I. S. A. khadi bhandar.
Such a bank would differ from a money bank in
that the money once deposited cannot be withdrawn
except through khadi purchase equivalent in value.
The A. I. S, A. may issue hundi books to such
customers who may from time to time draw hundis
of appropriate denominations on the bhandars and
purchase khadi.
The advantages of having such banks are obvious
and important both from the purchasers’ and wage-
earners’ point of view. Thus, if the khadi-lovers all
over the country take into their head to patronise
such banks, ( i ) it is obvious that the A. 1. S. A.
would be in a position to guarantee the wages of
the wage-earners. The extent of such security might
vary; (ii) it is equally obvious that the interest
earned by the A. I. S. A. would be capitalised and
utilised towards reduction of the cost of khadi to-
purchasers without in any way injuring the wages
of the wage-earners. Thus the purchasers get cheap-
ened khadi in lieu of interest on their advances.
Therefore, I think, the proper working of such khadi
banks may prove a useful device in lowering the
prices of khadi without loss to the wage-earners.
I do not know how far the above suggestion is
practicable. So I request you to give your weighty
consideration to it. If you think it worth your
reply, kindly put it through the columns of Harijan
for the benefit of the general public.”
The suggestion reads attractive. Let the
A. I, S. A. experts consider it. If the purchasers
will forego interest and a sufficient number
subscribe, it should be possible to cheapen
khadi.
Sevagram, 11-3-40 M. K. G-
CONTENTS
Question Box
Gandhi Seva Sangh — III ...
For Englishmen
Occasional Notes
Notes;
Jaiprakash Narayan
‘Khadi Banks’
Page
M. K. Gandhi 41
M. D. 42'
M. K. Gandhi 44
M. D. 47
M. K. G. 43
M. K. G. 48
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press. 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4
Snbicription Rates — INLAND ; One year, Rs. 4, Six months, Rs. 2-8, FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5-8 or, 8 ah. or 2 $.
aeg. No. B 3092
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Princes
Q. You have, I fear, evaded the question
of Princes. Generally you go straight to your
subject, but somehow or other you seem to
have walked round this subject.
A. Apparently, but not really, there is some
truth in the taunt. The fact is that the Princes
have never before now been presented as a
difficulty. They are a new arrow from the British
quiver. It is British India that is fighting for free-
dom. The States people axe fighting their own battle
in their own States against overwhelming odds.
The people in the States and in British India
are one. For them the artificial boundaries do
not exist. But for the administrators the bound-
aries are very real. British law has allowed
Princes to regard as foreigners people from British
India going to the States or people from one
Scate to another. And yet Princes exist only on
British sufferance; They cannot move without
British permission. Their heirs have to be
approved by the British Raj, Their tuition is also
under the same supervision. They can be deposed
at will. Thus so far as the British control is
concerned, they are worse off than the ordinary
British subject. But so far as their people are
concerned, the Princes have unlimited control
over them. They can imprison them at wiU
and even put them to death. Theoretically
British Raj has a duty by the people also. But
it is rarely exercised. Therefore the people of
the States labour under a double handicap. It
must be clear to you from the foregoing narra-
tive that the Congress cannot influence the
Princes except through the British Government.
Indeed the latter will not permit any real
approach to the Princes. I personally do not
desire the extinction of the Princely order. But
I do want the Princes to recognise the signs
of the times and shed a large part of their
autocracy. In spite of the powerful British
bayonet, the march of the people of both the
Indies' cannot be stayed. I am hoping that the
combined wisdom of all, including the Princes
and the present rulers, will prevent the march
from running mad, which ' it is bound to do
unless a smooth passage is made for it. I am
putting forth the best non-violent effort I can,
but my non-violence, because of my imperfections,
may fail I ask for the helping hand of those who
would see India win her goal without a blood bath.
But if the Princes will not listen, I do not
ask for their coercion. Let British India have
her independence, and I know, the Princes know,
that true freedom of British India means free-
dom of their people also. For as I have said
the two are one. No power on earth can keep
them in separation for all time.
Use of Force against Muslims
Q. You talk of complete independence from
Britain and at the same time of settling the
question of minorities through a Constituent
Assembly. This means that, if Muslims do not
listen to you, you would want to use British
forces to compel them to submit to your will.
A. This question simply ignores my own
position and, so far as I know, the Congress
position. The Congress cannot want independ-
ence and the use of British forces at the same
time. But that is not all. The Congress will not
coerce Muslims or any minority. That would not
be a non-violent approach. The greatest coercion
is British coercion. And the Congress is impatient
to get out of that coercion. My hope in desir-
ing a Constituent Assembly is that whether the
Muslims are represented by the Muslim League
mentality or any other, the representatives when
they are face to face with the reality will not
think of cutting up India according to religions
but will regard India as an indivisible whole
and discover a national, i. e. Indian, solution
of even specially Muslim questions. But if the
hope is frustrated, the Congress cannot forcibly
resist the express will of the Muslims of India.
Needless to say the Congress can never seek the
assistance of British forces to resist the vivisec-
tion. It is the Muslims who will impose their
will by force singly or with British assistance on
an unresisting India. If I can carry the Con-
gress with me, I would not put the Muslims to
the trouble of using force. I would be ruled
by them for it would still be Indian rule. In
other words, the Congress will have only a
non-violent approach to every question and
difficulty arising. But just as it is possible that
Muslim representatives to the Constituent Assem-
bly may wear another hue than that of the
Muslim League, it is also possible that the others
may be non-Congressmen. In that event, the
British will be where they are, only they will
be wooed by both the parties alternately and
will remain the architects of India's destiny.
For then, with the Congress swept away,
non-violence will be blown to the winds and
50
HARIJAN
[ March 23, 1940
naturally the infinitely superior violence of the
British aided by the willing co-operation of the
wooing party will easily rule India. For the
only force matched against British force is
that of non-violence, incomplete though it is,
of the Congress.
Neglect of Sanskrit
Q. Do you know that the Patna University
has practically tabooed the study of Sanskrit?
Do you approve of the step ? If you do not,
will you express your opinion in Harijan ?
A. I do not know what the Patna University
has done. But I quite agree with you that the
study of Sanskrit is being sadly neglected. I
belong to a generation which believed in the
study of the ancient languages. I do not believe
that such a study is a waste of time and eflEbrt.
I believe it is an aid to the study of modern
languages. This is truer of Sanskrit than of any
other ancient language so far as India is con-
cerned, and every nationalist should study it
because it makes a study of the provincial lan-
guages easier than otherwise. It is the language
in which our forefathers thought and wrote. No
Hindu boy or girl should be without a know-
ledge of the rudiments of Sanskrit, if he will
imbibe the spirit of his religion. Thus the
Gayatri is untranslatable. No translation can give
the music of the original which I hold has a
meaning all its own. The Gayatri is but one
example of what I have said.
Ramgarh, 17-3-40
WOMEN AND VOLUNTARY
ENDEAVOUR
(By M. K. Gandhi^
Shrimati Rajkumari Amrit Kaur writes :
“ Recently the women assembled at the Annual
Session of the All India Women’s Conference passed
a resolution expressing their faith in khadi as a
means of economic relief to our poor sisters, and
pledged themselves to try to use it as far as
possible in their homes and promote its sales. In
view of this I have recently addressed all our
Branches and asked them to take up what you
have termed * sacrificial spinning’ as a practical way
of helping khadi. If women of the leisured classes
would spin regularly and give their yarn to the
A. I. S. A., it could be utilised for sustaining the
recent increase in the wages of spinners which the
Association has introduced. These poor women used
to earn even as low a wage as a pice per day;
the A. !• S. A. has voluntarily raised it to a pice
and more per hour and desires it to rise much
higher. But it cannot do so without the hearty
co-operation of the well-to-do today, For it has .to
keep down the price of khadi so that it may remain
within the purchasing power of the middle classes-
We shall therefore be rendering a double service to
the spinner and the khadi buyer. It is ' a tragedy
,that most of us do not realise that the A. L S. A.
is in reality an Association for the benefit of women.
Spinners are women; they live if khadi lives; if we
can help to raise their earnings to a living wage,
v/e are at once not only giving them economic
independence but we also raise the dignity of their
labour.
Through the kind help of Shri Krishnadas Gandhi
I am able to give the following figures which
illustrate the material value of the help we could
easily render to our poor village sisters.
If a woman spins for an hour daily, she spins
for about 360 hours in the year. Reckoning an
average speed of 280 yards per hour and approxi-
mately 2l hanks per week ( a hank being equal to
840 yards ), she would be contributing 10 hanks per
month and 120 per annum. The value of this yarn
works out at 12 As- to 14 As. per mensem, and the
value of the spinning ( an hour daily at the rate of
wages at a pice per hour ) may be reckoned at 7
annas approximately. Supposing 3,000 of us joined
hands, we would be contributing Rs. 2,250 and Rs.
27,000 worth of yarn per month and per annum
respectively, the labour of spinning being reckoned
at Rs. 1,400 a month and Rs. 17,000 in the year.
If we buy our slivers, we would have to spend
7 As. a month or Rs. 5-4-0 per annum on them.
If, however, the art of carding cotton at home and
making slivers therefrom is cultivated, this expendi-
ture could be reduced by Rs. 2-4-0 a year, self-
made slivers involving a cost of 4 As. per month
or Rs. 3 per annum. Each one of us would thus
be' contributing labour to the extent of Rs. 7-8-0
during the year. ( Rs. 2-4-0 in making slivers and
Rs. 5-4-0 in spinning. )
Some sisters have asked me why I am asking
them to spin rather than contribute their quota in
cash. While it is open to those who will not spin
to help by donations, the value of work which
makes us one in spirit with the poor, which en-
hances the dignity of all labour, especially women’s
labour, and which develops within us a love of
hand-woven and hand-spun cloth as nothing else can
is something which cannot be reckoned in terms
of money.
Girl students in colleges often ask me in what
way they can serve the country. Each one of them
could contribute her quota in this manner too.
I shall be very grateful if you will give your
blessing and approval to this scheme and thereby
strengthen my appeal. We ought of course to be
able to raise many more than 3,000 volunteers to
join hands in this endeavour. What is 3,000 for a
huge country like ours, if we have the love of
service in us ? And of course it should be incumbent
on those who can give longer hours of labour to do
so. Those who wish to join this ‘ brigade ’ may send
their names and addresses to me, and I will inform
them as to where they can give in their yam.
I may mention that the figures given have been
reckoned at present A. I. S. A. rates.”
I heartily endorse this appeal. It will be a
shame if even three thousand sisters cannot
be founfl who would labour for the starving
millions. It is well that the Rajkumari has laid
stress on identification with the poor through
labour willingly and cheerfully done.
Sevagram, 11-3-40
MAECE 23, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
51
CANDID COMMENTS
Time and Tide is one of the most influentialo
broad-minded Qjnservative journals in England
today. The following comments that have appear-
ed in it vis-a-vis the Hindu Muslim question
in relation to India’s claim to Independence will
be read with interest:
”To the British public who have had the words
* Hindu ® and ‘ Muslim ’ dinned into their ears until
India has come to connote little else, this will
sound helpful, but it raises new questions. There is
the Hindu-Muslim problem and it is no use shirk-
ing it. But the Congress standpoint is that its Minis-
tries did not resign over the communal question, but
over the question of India’s international status and
the British Government’s war aims and that the
Viceroy and the India Office have dragged in the
Hindu-Muslim problem, much as St. Paul, with far
more excuse, dragged in the quarrel of the Saddu-
cees and Pharisees when be found himself in a tight
corner. Also the India Government, by the exagge-
rated recognition it has given to what is, after all,
merely the best organised and largest Muslim group,
the Muslim League, is held to have deliberately
exacerbated the problem. The Congress has its own
internal difficulties like every other group, but the
difficulties of the Indian Government are likely to
come to harvest first as the war grows grimmer
and ever more serious. Finally, there will never be
any settlement of the Hindu-Muslim problem any
more than of the Catholic-Protestant problem or of
the many religious problems of Syria and the
Balkans. If India has to wait for Dominion Status
until there is such a settlement, she must wait for
ever, which many Indians believe is our only interest
in the problem. All you can get is a convention
for a specified term of years by which the majority
community pledges itself to give Muslims such re-
presentation in excess of their numerical proportion
as will establish them in the legislatures and the
public services — until their educational and economic
progress has made the community able to look
after itself. ”
Even more outspoken are the comments of
The Hatal Witness which is the oldest established
journal in Natal. The extracts below are from
its leading article entitled “A cat may look at
a king” in reply to the London Times' vapour-
ings:
There are fewer tests of the sincerity of Britain
in her war aims than are to be found outside them.
Some of the assertions being made on behalf of
democracy and its defence call from Britain at this
time ( as well as from South Africa in the same
connection ) a practical recognition if she ( and we )
are not to be advised to practise what we preach
by those we are not slow to condemn.... The Congress
Party, it is true, does not represent all India; it-
would be remarkable, indeed, if, in the diversity of
faiths and the vastness of the population, any one
group should enjoy the unanimous support of the
TOsses. Let it be , said, however, that the party is
in power in seven of the eleven provinces, and that
it gained a national majority in the provincial elec-
tions, and it will be realised that its right to speak
for India is comparable with that conferred upon
the Conservative Party to speak for the British
Commonwealth of Nations. In claiming this right it
neither ignores nor neglects the several and strong
minorities in India. Briefly, what its demands envi-
sage is the acknowledgment by the greater demo-
cracy Britain of a principle for India not dissimilar
from the one we are now fighting for in Europe.
It has discovered already, however, that, if the objec-
tive of British policy in India is Dominion status,
a process of self-determined freedom and liberty, the
granting of it is a slower process than the swift
call to arms for the defence of the principle else-
where....
It reasons, as so many people reason, that because
there are strong minorities in disagreement with the
Congress Party, it behoves Britain to withhold the
right it is capable of exercising. It is as if to say
that because the Conservative Party has facing it a
strong opposition it must not be allowed to declare
war or make peace. This stupidity will one day
prove the undoing of a considerable portion of the
British Commonwealth of Nations.... If we continue
to deny those of our own Empire, that are fitted
for such status and privilege, the right to have more
than vague assurances for the future, we can expect
to be dubbed as hypocrites by our enemies in the
field.
The Times stands for the re-establishment of Poland
and Czechoslovakia, and at the same time refuses
the same to a nation fkr more democratically
inclined than Poland, which did but lately emerge
from a medieval feudalism, can ever hope to be.
This is no light matter. It might have thought that
the leaders of British opinion would pay some criti-
cal attention to the foundations of belief and faith,
and on them formulate policy consistent with reitera-
ted principles and consonant with those ideals for
which men are called to die at this time
Let it be said at once that the relation of Britain to
India merely reflects the relation of the Union to its
Indians. For anyone with a care for democracy,
with which goes a concern for political integrity and
reputation, will find it difficult to appreciate an
anxiety to defend liberty, freedom, honest dealing
with the rest of the values now challenged in
Europe, combined with a complete neglect of those
same things in our own land. The war, it has been
said, is a test of our own faith in matters of faith.
Singularly enough, it is not in Poland or in Czecho-
slovakia or at the Maginot line, though The Times
thinks it is, where democracy is to be defended. If
the cause of the British Commonwealth is to be
saved, it can only be done by granting those within
it a full measure of that ordered freedom and self-
determination we fight to grant those without. The
London Times very naturally does not see it that
way ! ”
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radbhkrishnan. Rs. 5-10—0. Postage 7 As.
Available at Harijan office-Poona 4, and 67 & 81
Queen’s Road, Bombay 2.
HAEIJAN [ March 23, 1940
ANOTHEE ENGLISHMAN’S LETTER
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Last week I dealt with a letter from a well-
known Englishman who is in India. Now I
have a letter from a responsible English friend
in England, from which I give below all that
the readers need to know:
“ We are quite certain that no such thing as
‘ banging the door ’ has happened. The Government
still anxiously desires a settlement to be reached.
Even if normally it did not want this, it is bound
to do so at the present time, in view of the terri-
fic war in which this country is engaged. The feel-
ing, however, is growing amongst Government people
that the Congress is increasingly regarding settle-
ment’ as meaning what it alone considers right.
Apart from the fact that that is not of the nature
of a settlement, but rather of a one-sided dictation,
I am bound to remind you that a war condition
does not increase the liberal-mindedness of men,
but on the contrary tends to strengthen a certain
fear and rigidity in politics, when men become of
necessity concentrated on the terrible effort in hand,
and more and more unable to allow for opposition.
Hence, if the Congress rejects conciliation and
follows a line of immovable opposition, it is more
than probable that the British War Cabinet will do
the same. The time for peaceful settlement will
pass — a disaster for both India and Great Britain.
I need not labour this. Its consequences are obvious.
But I may say that it is felt here, by many most
sympathetic to the cause of freedom in India, that
the Congress is not wise in taking so rigid a posi-
tion and ignoring the grave and indeed enormous
problems Great Britain is facing that make so difficult
a satisfactory answer to the Congress claim.
India claims her freedom in the sense, first, of
self-determination. Here the question is asked: What
is this Government of India that all India wants —
Congress Party, Muslims and other communities* and
Princes included ? The Congress demands a Consti-
tuent Assembly to determine this. But it seems clear
that before such an Assembly could usefully attempt
to tackle this question, with any hope of reaching
agreement, prior work has to be done. Should not,
first, a small, private but very responsible Conference
of a dozen representative Indian men work out to
agreement the main points of the desired constitution ?
Given that this small Conference was representa-
tive, and was accepted by both India and Great
Britain as a responsible body, and given the reach-
ing of reasonable agreement, , it is practically certain
that the British Government would accept its
decision. And it is to be supposed that a National
Assembly of all India, whatever the minor modifica-
tions it might desire, would substantially do so too.
This would not be all that the Congress High
Command is envisaging. But unless the Congress
is prepared for war ’ there must be some meeting
of the views of other parties, and some willingness
to meet the de Jacto Government on procedure.
There is a great desire and willingness here to
reach a solution. Everything demands it, and there
never was a greater amount of discussion over Bri-
tish-Indian relations than at the present time. On
the other hand there is developing a certain grim
determination not to accept dictation from what, it
is otherwise agreed of course, is the major political
party in India, — but whose decision can neither oust
Great Britain from participation in the solution, nor
release her from treaties, undertakings and promises.
The gravity of the situation now is such that I
most deeply pray you not to turn from the wonder-
ful path of patient seeking of understanding that
has always been yours and return to a past situation
of a kind we both equally hate.
May I add as a long friend of Indian freedom
my deep conviction that this struggle must and can
be ended in friendship and equality — accepting
all the implications of both those words. For this,
England has to return to India the domination and
control she has exercised, not asking a price; and
India has to claim England’s consent^ not demand
her surrender. So only can a lasting peace be
reached. But if this is so, the steps thereto must
be agreed steps.
I can well believe that “ the Government
people” did not wish to bang the door, but
Lord Zetland’s interview left no room for doubt.
These were his words :
“ Referring to Mr. Gandhi’s statement that, if
the British Government would leave the framing of
the constitution to Indians themselves, the questions
of defence, minorities, Princes and European inter-
ests would automatically be resolved, Lord Zetland
said that, while be greatly admired Mr. Gandhi’s
optimism, he was unhappily quite unable to share it
and felt that, as long as the leaders of the Congress
maintained their present attitude, the obstacles in
the way of an honourable understanding would be
greatly increased.
Lord Zetland said that it was unfortunate that
Congress spokesmen made a fetish of the word
‘ independence *, since he was convinced that this had
created a false impression in Great Britain of the
aim which the vast majority of Indians had in
view. ‘That they desire freedom to govern them-
selves I do not doubt; that they contemplate India
swinging from the orbit of British Commonwealth,
I do not for a moment believe. In a mad world,
they are far too appreciative of the protection
afforded to them by the armed strength of Great
Britain on land and sea.”
My correspondent is a careful student of
contemporary events in India. He chooses his
words before using them. Yet he has evi-
dently felt unable to correct the impression in
Government circles that the Congress “ is
increasingly regarding ‘settlement* as meaning
^.iARCH 23, 1940 ] KAillJAjS
what it alone considers right”. The Congress
has never taken up an uncompromising [attitude
and within the four corners of its demand has
always shown its readiness for ‘a settlement’.
Its demand is unequivocal. It says to the British
Government: “If you really mean to part with
power and your war is not for consolidating
your Empire but for democracy ail round, then
you will declare India a free country and let a
Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of
adult suffrage decide upon the form and content
of her own Government. No doubt there are
difficulties, e. g. about defence, about minorities,
and the Princes. The burden of solving these
difficulties will be shifted from you to the Con-
stituent Assembly. If the Assembly cannot solve
these satisfactorily, it will prove its insolvency.
You will have done your duty.” Surely in this
there is no one-sided dictation.
The writer reminds me of the war condition
and suggests in effect that it does not improve
one’s temper. I should say that a problem like
India is a direct issue in the war; perhaps the
fortunes of war will turn upon the conduct of
nationalist India. People engaged in a war do
not lose temper over matters which affect the
fortunes of war.
I have no difficulty in endorsing the sugges-
tion that some work prior to the Constituent
Assembly should be done. The writer suggests
“ a very responsible conference of a dozen
representatives”. The; difficulty is of choosing
the representatives. Who will choose them ?
They cannot command confidence unless they
are duly elected. Such a committee, so far
as I can see, can only be appointed by the
members of the Constituent Assembly. I think
the day is gone when any party worth the
name will accept as representatives Government
nominees as was done at the Round Table
Conference.
The Congress has to be and is prepared for
‘ war ’. But it wants to avoid ‘ war ’. It will
not wantonly act so as to be the cause of
endless suffering to the people. The Congress
is ever ready to “meet the de facto Govern-
ment on procedure”. Is the latter willing and
ready to recognise India as a free country? The
Congress history shows that it has always met
and is today ready to meet the views of other
parties on most matters. What it is not ready
to do is to alter the goal. It must be content
to be reduced to a hopeless minority for the
sake of preserving its goal. It is a trust which
it cannot abandon without being disloyal to its
past. The end of non-violent ‘war’ is always
an agreement, never dictation, much less humilia-
tion of the opponent. There can be no question
of the Congress asking or expecting Britain to
dishonour just obligations or treaties.
What, however, I miss is a sincere desire on
the part of Britain to do unto India what she
would wish done to her if the position were
reversed. The Congress is unreasonable, if it is
wrong for it to refuse to abate the passion fcr
feeedom for which Dadabhai laboured, which
Tiiak taught India to regard as her birthright,
and for which thousands of men and women
have cheerfully suffered imprisonment and loss
of their possessions. If it is allowed as a
worthy passion, the Congress has no fear as
to the verdict of being regarded as eminently
reasonable in everything else.
Ramgarh, 16-3-40
A Very Useful Publication
Shri Satishchandra DasGupta of Khadi Pratis-
than has just published a volume called Home
and Village Doctor ( price Rs. 5 cloth-bound,
Rs. 6 leather-bound). It contains 1384 pages,
has 18 chapters on the human body, care of
systems, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, nursing,
accidents, home treatment, cheap remedies, dis-
eases of the various organs, care of pregnant
mother and child, infectious and constitutional
diseases as well as those relating specially to
women. Particular contents are exhaustive, and
it has a copious index at the end covering 32
pages. There are 219 instructive illustrations.
It was during my second imprisonment here
that I wrote and asked medical friends to give
me a book after the style of the excellent
publication Moore’s Family Medicine. I wanted,
however, something better and more indigenous
in the sense that a layman serving in villages
could handle with ease. A book was promised
but the promise could not be fulfilled. Satish
Babu came to the rescue and with his amazing
industry has produced a book which should
meet my requirements. As he says in his intro-
duction he would not publish it till I had
read it through and certified it as satisfactory.
He supplied me with the chapters as they were
getting ready; then when he had finished the
whole volume he bound it and sent it to me.
I carried it with me for one year or longer
but could never get the time required. In
despair I wrote to Satish Babu to publish the
book as it was. He was quite content to leave
the work unpublished, but I could not think
of allowing such labour of love given with
infinite care to be lost. I confess that I do
not quite like the bulk of the volume. If I
could have revised it, probably it would have
been curtailed. But Satish Babu has erred, if
he has erred at all, on the safe side. I ' hope
that every village worker knowing English will
make it a point to possess a copy which can
be had from the Khadi Fratisthan, 15 College
Square, Calcutta.*
Sev agram, 4 -3-40 M. K. G.
* Can also be had from the Harijan office ( Poona
4; and 81 Queen’s Road, Bombay 2 )• Postage 13 As.
by ordinary post, Re. 1 per V. P. P.. extra.
NOTICE
The business hours of our Bombay branch are
now from 11 A. M. to 7—30 P. M. Address: 67 & 81
Queen’s Road, Bombay 2. Manage
Xi -fiUCVX^
[ iViAKUil 1^40
0 ‘±
OCCASIONAL NOTES
Non-CoBgress India
It is Sir Samuel Hoare’s phrase. In his speech
on the present crisis, he coined it to distinguish
it from Congress India. It was an expressive
phrase, but his object was not quite patent in
his speech. What Lord Zetland and Sir Samuel
Hoare have said euphemistically Mr. W. P.
Barton, a retired Civilian, has expressed most
bluntly in an article in The Quarterly Review^
Non-Congressmen, he asserts, are with and for
the British rule in India, and they represent
the vast majority. Here are some of the state-
ments on which, one can now see, the average
Britisher is fed :
(1) The Congressmen “ have little or no in-
fluence with the classes possessing military value”,
viz. the Muslims of the north, the Sikh pea-
santry, the Rajputs, the great landowners, the
Marathas; (2) “Ninety million Moslems contest
the Congress claim “ ; (3) “ In the States only a
very small proportion of the Hindu intelligentsia
in them subscribe to the Congress creed” ;
(4) “The great community of outcastes (sixty
million) does not acknowledge the authority of
the Congress, despite Gandhi's special protection”;
( 5 ) “ Indian Liberals similarly reject the Congress
claim to speak for India”; (,6) “The Democratic
Swaraj Party of Bombay follows the example of
the Liberals”; (7) “So does the great party of
Hindu orthodoxy, the Hindu Mahasabha”; (8)
“The landowning classes throughout India, who
contributed largely to the Congress victory, are
now bitterly hostile”; (9) “A non-Brahmin
( Hindu ) party is opposed to the Congress
Government of Madras”,
Mr. Barton has by accident forgotten the
Parsis and quite a number of other groups,
though he has made every attempt to be as
exhaustive as possible. The conclusion which
Sir Samuel Hoare and Lord Zetland have not
uttered in so many words is that there is no
truth in the “Congress claim to represent an
Indian nation which only exists in its ima-
gination”, and “it is doubtful if it can claim
to voice the wishes of a third of the people of
India.” Why, therefore, Mr. Barton argues, make
any attempt to treat with the Congress?
The Naked Reality
Whatever happens, the Congress “defection”
is “little likely to prejudice India's war effort”,
for the whole of non-Congress India is with
Britain.
“ Does Gandhi, ” Mr. Barton asks, “ really intend
to do his best to paralyse India’s war effort, despite
the admitted fact that with two*thirds of the people
(rf India on the side of Britain any such attempt
must inevitably fail? Does he really intend to risk
the future by a gambler’s throw? It seems unlikely.
.Gandhi is not a realist, but he cannot overlook the
fact that he would best , consult the interests of the
Congress by allowing former Ministers to reassume
- oflSce and work with Britain relying on British
support to suppress the left-wing if they attempted
revolution ... Whatever policy Congress may decide to
adopt, it is obvious in existing conditions that Britain
could not possibly comply with Congress demands
and place it in a position that would give it pre-
dominance over the Princes and the great Moslem
community.... Practically the whole Moslem world of
over 200 million people is giving its moral support
to France and Britain. It would be sheer insanity
on the part of Britain and a gross neglect of her
responsibilities to India to forfeit Moslem support
by placing the Moslems of India at a disadvantage
as regards the Hindu majority in the future political
settlement of India.’*
The whole position is transparently clear. If
two-thirds of the people of India were on the
side of Britain, it would be absurd for the onc-
third to think that it can paralyse India’s war
effort. But Mr. Barton is sure that as a matter
of fact the two-thirds he claims to be with
Britain are not really so. With Britain’s policy
of “ divide and rule” and with the help of the
British bayonet they may be won over perhaps.
And Gandhiji, if he was the “ astute ” and
” ambitious ” gambler “ who with his usual
astuteness had acquired merit by professing
himself ready to support Britain unconditionally,
only, of course, with soul force and non-vio-
lence,” he would certainly purchase the “interests
of the Congress” from mighty Britain. Luckily
Gandhiji does not answer to Mr. Barton's
description. He wants for the Congress predo-
minance neither over the Princes nor over the
great Moslem community. He wants freedom
for all — including the Princes and the Muslims
— from the yoke of British Imperialism. “Would
the Congress exist but for British Imperialism ? ”
asks Mr. Barton. The Congress has proclaimed
it to the world that it would prefer extinction
to having anything to do with British Imperial-
ism. But it goes further and questions the fact
of the so-called “ non-Congress ” India wanting
to depend for its existence on British Imperial-
ism.
That question can be automatically decided by
Britain's declaration of India’s right to frame
her own constitution by means of a Constituent
Assembly on which all the parties that Mr.
Barton has mentioned will have representation.
To accept that suggestion — we will not call it
a demand — would be sportsmanlike. To reject
it would be just not playing the game. That
Britain has enough physical might everyone
knows. The Congress would prefer to raise the
moral question and in the solution of it to be
extinguished than bend the knee to Imperial
Britain.
Missionaries Once Again
If there is one thing that one can genuinely
admire in the Missionaries, it is their persistence.
They know what Gandhiji has to say in
reply to their stock questions, but they go on
asking them in the spirit of converting him or,
I take it, being in their turn converted. A
group of them saw him at Sevagram the other
March 23, 1940]
HARIJAN
day. We were busy packing to go to Ramgarh,
and there was nardiy any time that Gandhiji
could spare. But he promised to see them for
£ve minutes. And they did indeed make the
best of their time.
“What started you on your career of leader-
ship?” was the queer question with which they
started.
“It came to me, unsought, unasked,” said
Gandhiji rather embarrassed. “I do not know,
though, what sort of leader I am, and whether
what I am doing is leadership or service. But
whatever it is, it came to me unasked.”
But the friends who came were sure that
they were leaders, and they asked for guidance
as leaders of Christian thought.
“All I can say,” said Gandhiji, “is that there
should be less of theology and more of truth
in all that you say and do."
“Will you kindly explain it?”
“How can I explain the obvious? Amongst
agents of the many untruths that are propound-
ed in the world one of the foremost is theology.
I do not say that there is no demand for it. There
is a demand in the world for many a question-
able thing. But even those who have to do
with theology as part of their work have to
survive their theology. I have two good Christian
friends who gave up theology and decided to
live the gospel of Christ.”
“Are you sure that no great result has come
through your own study of Jesus ? ”
“Why? There is no doubt that it has come,
but not, let me tell you, through theology or
through the ordinary interpretation of rheo-
logists. For many of them contend that the
Sermon on the Mount does not apply to mundane
things, and that it was only meant for the twelve
disciples. Well I do not believe this. I think the
Sermon on the Mount has no meaning if it is
not of vital use in everyday life to everyone,”
"Is there not to be found a solution of the
present-day problems in the teaching of Jesus?”
“Well you are now dragging me in deeper
waters," exclaimed Gandhiji, “ and you will drown
me.”
“ What is the present trend of the thought
of Young India?”
“ It would take a brave and knowing man
to answer this question. But, ” he smilingly said,
“I must tell you that you have overstayed
your time already. And if you go on question-
ing and cross— questioning me, I dare say you
will floor me without being any the wiser for
having done so.”
A Seeker
Of a different type, so far as I could judge,
was a Missionary friend who saw him long
before this and asked him similar questions in
a different spirit. He was more a seeker than
a , questioner. “Could you tell me the things
one should avoid in order to present the
gospel of Christ ? ” he asked.
“ Cease to think that you want to convert
the whole world to your interpretation of
Christianity. At the end of reading the Bible,
let me tell you, it did not leave on my mind
the impression that Jesus ever meant Christians
to do what the bulk of those who take his
name do. The moment you adopt the attitude
I suggest, the fleld of service becomes limitless.
You limit your own capacity by thinking and
saying that you must proselytise.”
“ I see what you mean, ” he said. “ We have
been cumbered by creeds and man-made things.
We feel that we should be in a place where
all barriers have broken down.”
Gandhiji instanced a few Christians who, be
said, saw the central fact that, if they wanted
to live this Christian life, they should literally
follow the words — “ Not he that sayeth 'Lord,
Lord’, but he that doeth His will.”
“ You are living a guided life. Could you
kindly tell me your experience of guidance ?”
“ I do not ■ regard God as a person, ” said
Gandhiji. “ Truth for me is God, and God’s
Law and God are not different things or facts,
in the sense that an earthly king and his law
are different. Because God is an Idea, Law
Him- self. Therefore it is impossible to conceive
God as breaking the Law. He therefore does not
rule our actions and withdraw Himself. When
we say He rules our actions, we are simply
using human language and we try to limit Him.
Otherwise He and His Law abide everywhere
and govern everything. Therefore I do not
think that He answers in every detail every
request of ours, but there is no doubt that
He rules our action, and 1 literally believe
that not a blade of grass grows or moves with-
out His will. The free will we enjoy is less
than that of a passenger on a crowded deck.”
“ Do you feel a sense of freedom in your
communion with God?”
“ I do. I do not feel cramped as I would on
a boat full of passengers. Although I know that
my freedom is less than that of a passenger,
I appreciate that freedom as I have im-
bibed through and through the central teaching
of the Gita that man is the maker of his own
destiny in the sense that he has freedom of
choice as to the manner in which he uses that
freedom. But he is no controller of results. The
moment he thinks he is, he comes to grief.”
“Thank you.”
Ramgarh, 16-3-40 M. D.
To Correspondents and Message-seekers
In spite of my notice in Harijan of Decem-
ber 23rd those who can spare me continue to
write and ask for messages. I would refer them
to the notice for fuller explanation. I -know
several intimate friends have not received acknow*’
ledgments or messages. They will forgive me.
I have to harden my heart if I am to cope
with the responsibility I am carrying. And what
can be better than that I should commence with
known friends?
Sevagram, 15-1-40
M. K. G.
56
HARIJAS
I Maech 23, 1940
Notes
The Lonclon Assassination
Further details that have come through the
Press of the assassination of Sir Michael O'Dvryer
and the attempted assassination of Lord Zetland,
Lord Lamington and Sir Louis Dane confirm
my opinion that it was a work of insanity. It
is none the less reprehensible on that account.
We bad otsr differences with Sir Michael
O’ Dwyer, but that should not prevent us from
being grieved over his assassination or condoling
with Lady O’Dwyer and her family. I would
like every Indian patriot to share with me the
shame of the act and the joy that the lives
of the three distinguished Englishmen were
saved. We have our grievance against Lord
Zetland. We must fight his reactionary policy.
But there should be no malice or vindictiveness
in our resistance. The papers tell us that the
accused acted with amused nonchalance when
he faced the court and the spectators. This
does not command my admiration. It is to me
a sure sign of continuing insanity. The accused
is intoxicated with the thought of his bravery.
I have known drunken men act with a reck-
lessness of which they would be incapable in
a sober state. I understand that extra rum is
issued to soldiers who are sent to specially
hazardous tasks. What am I to praise, the
rum or its after-effect? The word assassin
owes its origin to the hasheesh that was
administered to the would-be assassins in order
to deaden their conscience. This continuing
insanity of the accused should fill us with pity
and grief. If we are to fight fairly and squarely,
we must, as far as is humanly possible, make
every Englishman feel that he is as safe in our
midst as he is in his own home. It fills me
with shame and sorrow that for some timg at
least every Indian face in London will be suspect.
Is it not possible for us all to realise that the
masses will never mount to freedom through
murder ? I would like every reader of these
lines to know that every such act bar ms our
non-violent struggle, and therefore to dissociate
himself in the secret of his heart and openly
from such acts of insanity.
The National Week
From 6th April to 13th April has been observed
as the National Week from year to year. On
the 6th April 1919 the masses of India found
their feet. It was the inauguration of Civil
Disobedience. Its non-violent character was
signalised by fasting and prayer. Hindus and
Muslims fiaternised as they had never done
before. The vow of Swadeshi was taken by tens
of thousands. The 13th April 1919 saw the
Jallianwala massacre in which Hindu, Muslim
and Sikh blood -flowed promiscuously. The
National Week is observed as a week of self-
purification, m which sales of khadi and other-
products of village industries arc organised on
a large scale. I have said and I repeat that there
is no Swaraj for the masses except through
khadi and other village crafts. For there is no
non-violent disobedience without sustained con-
structive effort. A living, continuous mass contact
is impossible without some constructive pro-
gramme requiring almost daily contact of the
workers with the masses. I hope, therefore, that
the forthcoming week will be celebrated by all
earnest workers with due solemnity and with
intensive sales of khadi and other products of
village handicrafts.
Ramgarh, 17-3-40 M. K. G.
AN INSANE ACT
Gandhiji made the following statement to the
Press on the 14th inst. at Ramgarh :
The news of the death of Sir Michael
O’Dwyer and of the injuries to Lord Zetland,
Lord Lamington and Sir Louis Dane has caused
me deep pain. I offer my condolences to the
deceased’s family, and hope that the injured
will soon recover. I regard this act as one of
insanity. Such acts have been proved to be
injurious to the causes for which they are
committed. I hope this will not be allowed
to affect political 'udgment.
* * ^
The Working Committee passed the following
resolution at Ramgarh on the 17th inst.:
The Working Committee has learnt with deep
regret of the assassination of Sir Michael O’Dwyer
and the wounding of the Marquess of Zetland
and others by a person said to be an Indian.
The Committee does not attach any political
significance to this unfortunate act of violence.
Nevertheless, it wishes to reiterate its conviction
that all such acts are injurious to the national
cause.
To Agents
The attention of the agents is drawn to tlie fact
that -we do not accept cheques other than those drawn
on banks in Poona and Bombay. In view of recent
complaints about loss of book post jiackets in transit,
we now take certificates of posting. In cases, there-
fore, of non-receipt agents may complain to their
post offices. Manager
CONTENTS
Question Box
Women and Voluntary
Endeavour
Candid Comments
Another • Englishman's
Letter
Occasional Notes
An Insane Act
Notes:
A Very Useful
Publication
The London Assassination
The National Week
Page
M. K. Gandhi 49
M. K. Gandhi 50
51
M. K- Gandhi 52
M. D. 54
56
M. K. G. 53
M. K. G. 56
M. K. G. 56
Atyabhushan Press. 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona f
SahMnvtaw Rate. - iBiAiro ; One year, Be. 4, Six months Re. &-8. Foebigh : One year. Rs. 5-8 or. 8 iSTor 8 $.
Editor : MAHADEV DESAl
VoL. vm, No. 7 ] POONA — SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1940 [ TWO ANNAS
EAMGARH
The Non-cooperation of the Elements
When Rajendrababu and his colleagues fixed
upon Ramgarh as the venue of this year’s Con-
gress, they little knew the hardships they would
have to bear due to the non-cooperation of the
elements. From the point of view of convenience
Daranagar would have been a much better and
much less expensive place. But Daranagar was
ruled out as not being a village-venue. Ramgarh
was right in the midst of the unsophisticated
villagers, and, though the cheap village-Congress
of Gandhiji’s conception still remains a dream,
we have, since Faizpur, been succeeding in plant-
ing a Congress-city in the midst of villages to
the material benefit of the villagers who for
three or four months get full employment, a
satisfactory wage, and a custom for village
products. In a vague sort of way the message
of the Congress does reach these folks. But we
have not yet learnt to go to the Congress with
village-mentality, and therefore the principal
object of having the Congress in the villages —
viz. annihilation of the distance between the
city-dweller and the villager — is still far from
being realised.
But Ramgarh proved a handful in a most
unexpected way. The exhibition, for which
Laxmibabu and others had laboured like Trojans,
was to have been opened by Gandhiji on the
10th, but heavy rains ruined their work; they
had to toil over again and the Exhibition could
be opened only on the 14th. For five days the
skies remained clear, the workers heaved a sigh
of relief, when suddenly at the exact hour of
the opening of the Congress it began to
pour, and the amphitheatre with its enchanting
environment soon became a lake.
‘ How inauspicious, ’ some exclaimed. ' No,’ was
the reply, ‘rain is never inauspicious, and certainly
never so disastrous as fire.’ How human nature
always tries to derive consolation from all acts
of God! And really speaking the non-cooperation
of the elements proved not a small blessing in
disguise. The Maulana Saheb declared that, come
what may, he was determined to open the
Congress. Pandit Jawaharlal stood by him, and
their determination was infectious. Nearly a
hundred thousand people — men, women, and
children, the richest with their costly wearing
apparel and the poorest in their single khadi
shirt and dhoti — sat smiling and laughing with-
out making the slightest stir. When the down-
pour was unbearable they lifted the bamboo--
tattis from under themselves and held them up
for shelter, and only when there was knee-deep
water, and no sign of the fury abating, did
they make for their camps. But even then
there was no scrimmage to get back, ^ei^'eryone
bowed to the inevitable, the orange-clad sisters
and the men volunteers gave all the help they
could in carrying children and helping people
who slipped and fell, and not a soul was hurt.
Rajendrababu, sore at heart, greeted the people
in a brief speech, the Maulana followed with a
similarly brief address, and Pt. Jawaharlal moved
the main resolution which Prof. Kripalani second-
ed, and the house was adjourned. The . inclement .
elements continued their mad fury, hut finding
that everyone was undaunted, the tempest ceased
and the skies cleared in the morning, and at
nine o’clock the Congress met again in the
Chowk with fifty thousand people again ready
to face the threatening weather with a cheer.
The President could have made short work of
the amendments which did not deserve the per-
mission to be moved, seeing the utter lack of
support they had in the Subjects Committee,
but he gave everyone as long a rope as was
asked for, and in a. little more than three
hours brought the proceedings to a close. Nothing
could have been more expeditious, more telling,
more significant of the temper of the people.
The non-cooperation of the elements was thus
turned into co-operation and work, and has left
a lesson for all time.
The Exhibition
If the rains taught the workers the lesson of
selecting for the Congress a rain-proof venue,
they taught people like me not to leave until
tomorrow the work that you can do today.
For I was foolish enough to defer until the
last day a careful and examining look of the
Exhibition, with the result that I have come
away having seen only the Khadi Court to
which one day I devoted a couple of hours.
And I know that, if I gave a couple of hours
to the Khadi Court, there were courts like the
Basic Education Court, planned by Shrimati
Ashadevi and the Jamia Milia workers with
elaborate care, which deserved more than that time.
The Khadi Court was arranged this time not
by professional people like Shri Jerajani, but by
an amateur in the field, Shrimati Kuwerbai
Vakil, who with her husband [runs the Pupils’
Own School in Vileparle, a suburb of Bombay..
58
HARIJAN
[ Makoh 30, 1940
Her amateur hand left nothing to be desired in
the way of exquisite taste and attractiveness, and
though I have not beside me the figures of
khadi sales, I know this must have contributed
not a little to push up the sales. Bihar
has been lucky in the manufacture and sale
of khadi, luckier than other provinces. The
Congress Government purchased last year Rs.
60,000 worth of khadi from the Bihar Branch
of the A. I. S. A. This year the new incum-
bents have placed an order for Rs. 400,000
worth of khadi — policemen’s uniform to be made
of cloth costing 17 annas a square yard. No
wonder, therefore, that the Bihar workers
should be forging ahead every day in the
matter of new patterns, new designs and
finer texture. Thus they were able to exhibit
this year a piece of muslin woven out of yarn
of 300 counts — reminiscent of the famous gos-
samerlike Dacca muslin — spun by a sister who
was present on the spot to exhibit the beauty
of her art. Devasundari of Darbhanga sat in
the middle of the court with her wheel, spinn-
ing with patient care from her own handmade
slivers the 300 count yam. Though the workers
had succeeded in coaxing her to give up purdah,
it was difficult to make her answer many
questions. ( By the by, the Congress in spite of
the heavy expenses and trouble it meant for the
organisers, has helped to bring about a revolution
among womenfolk. Neatly 200 Bihar sisters have
discarded their purdah and, having worked as
volunteers, will now be so many workers in the
field of social reform and will help in the
abolition of the purdah from the province. )
Devasundari told me that she had her
slivers out of Cambodia cotton, and that a tola
of slivers took her a month to spin! The sari
which had been exhibited there weighed 15 tolas.
Rs. 5 was her monthly earning. Abdulla the
weaver said that it took him three months to
weave her yarn with the help of four men.
The other exhibits — coatings and shirtings,
saris, dhotis, curtains, bed-spreads — showed the
rapid march we have made in producing stuff
suited to the most varied taste and varied needs,
and left no excuse for people to say that no
khadi to suit their tastes was available. There
were the exquisite door curtains from Sambalpur
(Orissa) and U. P., the fine patola from Orissa,
not quite so elaborate and exquisite as the one*
from Patm, but costing- ten times less and there-
fore within the reach of fashionable middle rlasg
women; the charming printings from Bombay
and Meerut, and the beautiful saris from Andhra
and Tirupur; and the Kashmir shawl with all
kinds of pashmina products which tantalised
but were be^nd the reach of the ordinary
khadi-lover. The reversible pashmina waistcoat
and pashmina pull-over were worth their price
and the tug of clipped wool-work told a tale*
that IS worth recording. The art had- died out
^ one of the A. L S. A. workets teceneb
tumbled upon an old man workinj at a ato^
breaker, who casually told him that he could
weave designs that would bewitch the eye but
had no customer. He was asked to give up
stone-breaking and revive the dead art. The rug
with the clipped wool giving the appearance
o£ fur outside and the silky pashmina inside
measuring yards, was worth Rs. 172-8-0.
There were other courts worth a visit and a
careful study, but, as I have said before, I
missed them as I deferred seeing them. I had,
however, rushed through the Exhibition with
Gandhiji on the day he opened it, and therefore
knew from a distance the wealth that it con-
tained. The Basic Education Court, in which,
as Gandhiji said, one could see Hindu-Muslim-
Christian unity at work, was where Dr. Zakir
Husain and his colleagues, Shrimati Ashadevi
and Shri Aryanayakam, had tried to show the
advance and the illimitable scope of basic
education.
There was the place where the villagers in
Bihar were extracting iron out of sand and
making tools out of it; the manufacture of paper
by hand and the rapid strides made in that
department ; the tannery and the leather-goods
factory dealing exclusively in dead cattle hide;
the stall where sugar and all kinds of sweet-
meats were made from the juice of the palm
tree which grows wild in most provinces of
India, and of which the number in Bihar is
enough to produce gnd and sugar for the whole
of India. The harvest is rich, the reapers arc
few and far between.
Its Meaning
In a speech which I shall not attempt to
reproduce here Gandhiji explained the vast
possibilities of the movement for the revival of
these village crafts and occupations. “You can
show the villagers,’* he said, ‘'that they have
in their possession crafts that can stand
the invasion of bombs from aeroplanes. But
they are ignorant of their treasures which have
been mostly looted, and are on the brink of
extinction. Wc have to awaken them to a sense
of those treasures, and dispel their ignorance
and darkness. That is the function of these
exhibitions. ”
A wag had remarked the other day that
Gandhiji aimed not at the civilisation of India,
but at the charkha-isation of India. Whatever
one may say about the meaning and implica-
tions of the charkha and Gandhiji’s concep-
tion thereof, is there any doubt that the
civilisation which has been the pride and
the admiration of all historians was the
charkha civilisation ? Gandhiji adverted to this
aspect and said: “The true Indian civilisation is
in the Indian villages. The modern city civili-
sation you find in Europe and America, and in
a handful of our cities which are copies of the
^Vestern cities and which were built for the
foreigner, and by him. But they cannot last. It
is only the handicraft civilisation that will endure
and stand the test of time. But it can do so
Maech 30 , 1940 ]
HARIJAN
59
only if we can correlate the intellect with the
hand. The late Madhnsudan Das used to say that
our peasants and workers had, by reason of
working with bullocks, become like bullocks; and
he was right. We have to lift them from the
estate of the brute to the estate of man, and
that we can do only by correlating the intellect
with the hand. Not until they learn to work
intelligently and make something new every day,
not until they are taught to know the joy of
work, can we raise them from their low estate.”
Touching on another aspect of the exhibition
he said in another speech in the exhibition
after the evening prayer : “ This exhibition is the
real Congress for the masses. Our chosen dele-
gates will attend the Congress, and pass reso-
lutions there as to what we have to do during
the year. But what are the masses to do ? The
exhibition serves to provide intellectual pabulum
for the masses, and those who visit the exhi-
bition owe it to them to take to them what
they learn here. There is no institution where
35 crores of our people can go. The Kumbha
Mela is attended by several lakhs of people,
but what is that number in a population of 35
crores? But if you who attend the exhibition
can take some of the crafts which are
being demonstrated here to the villagers, you
can reach the millions who inhabit the villages
and revolutionise their lives There is the
talk of civil disobedience in the air. But who
is fit to practise civil disobedience? Not those
who will not spin, who will not wear khadi,
who do not care for the handicrafts. They will
do some other kind of disobedience, but it will
be anything but civil. That is not the disobe-
dience I would like to teach or would care
to live for. I want to turn the quiet and living
strength that spinning gives you into the
channel of civil disobedience. If you will, there-
fore, see the exhibition with my eyes, you will
carry the gospel of khadi and the spinning wheel
to the villages, and lay the foundation of a
handicraft civilisation and universalise khadi and
handicrafts. If you do so, I assure you there
will be no necessity for civil disobedience. If
you will not do so, if you do not spin, do
not universalise khadi, I may go to jail and
be there for a number of years, but it will
be all in vain. Without khadi and without
handicrafts the Congress boat, far ftom carrying
us to the port, will sink in midstream.”
At the Helm
The candidature of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
was the acid test of the Congress delegates’
nationalism, their feith in Hindu-Muslim unity,
and their courage to entrust the destinies of the
nation to a Muslim leader at a time of unpre-
cedented crisis. But by an overwhelming majo-
rity they declared their faith in him. They
would have done so in 1939 too, but t he ir
having done so in this critical year of our
nation’s history is especially notable. I had an
occasion to ask the Maulana what he meant
when he was reported to have said in a Lahore
interview that now that the parliamentary
programme had been put aside he had no
difiSculty in consenting to be president. “ That,”
said the Maulana, with, a smile, “ is the trouble
of having a reporter who cannot understand
and express correctly what you say in Urdu.
Don’t you see the absurdity of the statement ?
How could I decry the parliamentary programme
having been so closely associated with the conduct
of it ? What I meant to say was this ; * The
parliamentary programme is over . I have had
my share in the Working Committee’s resolution
asking the ministers to resign, and if I am
called upon to preside over the next Congress
and if I declined, I should be rightly held
guilty of having shirked the natmral consequences
of that resolution. Some time or other, unless
the Government revise their attitude, we are
sure to have civil disobedience, and I did not
want anyone to say or feel that because civil
disobedience was a certainty I got funky. And
then to have reposed their trust in me in
ordinary times would be good enough ; but to
have done so in a crisis like the present is
something that compelled me to respond. ” I
think this explanation is enough to silence all
criticism on the score of that misreported inter-
view. And the Maulana’s presidential address
and his conduct of the proceedings at Ramgarh
have more than justified the nation’s choice.
The address was characteristic of the Maulana, a
closely reasoned piece, strictly confined to the ques-
tion of the hour, and studiously refraining ftom
touching any other subject. E the Working Com-
mittee at Patna decided to have only one resolu-
tion, the Maulana decided to have only one topic
for exhaustive treatment in his address. Not a
paragraph in it is superfluous, and he has wast-
ed no words on adjectives and epithets. “You
might have said something on civil disobedience
and the constructive programme,” I said to the
Maulana. "No,” he said, “having said that
everything depended on discipline, unity and full
confidence in Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership, it
would have been an act of supererogation on
my part to have said anything on these topics.
He has said all that is worth saying. He who
accepts his leadership accepts all that he has
said on civil disobedience and the intimate con-
nection of the constructive programme with it,
and he has no business to add anything of his
own. If I did, I should set a bad example."
The Address
The address has been printed in extenso by the
daily press, but as a number of foreign readers
read this paper, and as The Times and The
Daily Telegraph have disposed it of in a summary
of 39 and 40 words, I shall extract here the
cream of the address. India’s fight is not against
the British people but against British imperialism,
and the Maulana has made this abundantly clear:
“ But while we were considering the dangers aris-
ing from Fascism and Nazism, it was impossible
60
HARIJAN
[ March 30^ 1940
for U 3 to forget the older danger which has been
proved to be infinitely more fatal to the peace and
freedom of nations than these new dangers, and
v/hich has in fact supplied the basis for this reac-
tion. I refer to British imperialism. We are not
distant spectators of this imperialism, as we are of
the new reactionary movements. It has taken posses-
sion of our house and dominates over us. It was
for this reason that we stated in clear terms that,
if new entanglements in Europe brought about war,
India, which has been debarred from exercising
her will and making free decisions, will not take any
part in it. She could onlj' consider this question
when she had acquired the right of coming to deci-
sion according to her own free will and choice.
India cannot endure the prospect of Nazism and
Fascism, but she is even more tired of British im-
perialism. If India remains deprived of her natural
right to freedom, this would clearly mean that
British imperialism continued to flourish with all its
traditional characteristics, and under such conditions
India would on no account be prepared to lend a
helping hand for the triumph of British imperialism.
This was the second declaration which was con-
stantly emphasized through these resolutions. These
resolutions were repeatedly passed from the Lucknow
session onwards till August 1939 and are known by
the name of ‘ War Resolutions
Also:
“ But it is not a question of the desire or of
the measure of the desire of the British Govern-
ment. The straight and simple question is of India’s
right; whether she is entitled to determine her own
fate or not. On the answer to this question depend
the answers to all other questions of the day. This
question forms the foundation stone of the Indian
problem; India will not allow it to be removed, for
if it is displaced, the whole structure of Indian
nationalism will collapse.
So far as the question of war is concerned our
position is quite clear. We see the face of British
imperialism as clearly now as we did in the’ last
war, and we are not prepared to assist in the
triumph by participating in the War. Our case is
crystal clear. We do not wish to see British impe-
rialism triumphant and stronger and thus lengthen
the period of our own subjection to it. We abso-
lutely refuse to do so, Our way lies patently in
the opposite direction. ’*
Lastly :
“ Since war began, several members of the British
Cabinet have tried to make the world believe that
the old order of British imperialism has ended, and
that today the British nation has no other aims
except those of peace and justice. Which country
could have more warmly acclaimed such a declaration
than India ? But the fact is that, in spite of these
declarations, British imperialism stands in the way
•of peace and justice today exactly as it did before
the War. The Indian demand was the touch-stone
for all such claims. They were so tested and found
to he counterfeit and untrue. ’’
The portion of his address on Hindu-Muslim
Unity and the Minority Problem is likely to
endure in history. Ever since he started his
weekly Al Hilal in 1912 he has waged
unrelenting war against the policy and efltorts
to divide Hindus and Muslims, and he declares
in his address :
I would remind my co-reiigionists that today I
stand exactly where I stood in 1912 when I address-
ed them on this issue. I have given thought to all
those innumerable occurrences which have happened
since then; my eyes have watched them, my mind
has pondered over them. These events did not merely
pass me by; I was in the midst of them, a parti-
cipant, and I examined every circumstance with care,
I caunot be false to what I have myself seen and
observed; I cannot quarrel with my own convictions;
I cannot stifle the voice of my conscience. I repeat
today what I have said throughout this entire
period that the ninety millions of Muslims of India
have no other right course of action than the one
to which I invited them in 1912.”
He scouts the idea that the Muslims are in a
minority, and that the democratic institutions in
India would therefore jeopardise their interests
and existence :
"Politically speaking, the word minority does not
mean just a group that is numerically smaller and
therefore entitled to special protection. It means a
group that is so small in number and so lacking in
other qualities that give strength, that it has no
confidence in its own capacity to protect itself from
the much larger group that surrounds it. It is not
enough that the group should be relatively the
smaller, but that it should be absolutely so small as
to be incapable of protecting its interests. Thus
this is not merely a question of numbers; other
factors count also. If a country has two major
groups numbering a million and two millions respec-
tively, it does not necessarily follow that, because
one is half the other, therefore it must call itself
politically a minority and consider itself weak.”
Also:
” Full eleven centuries have passed by since then.
Islam has now as great a claim on the soil of
India as Hinduism. If Hinduism has been the re-
Ugion of the people here for several thousands of
years, Islam also has been their religion for a thou-
sand years. Just as a Hindu can say with pride
that he is an Indian and follows Hinduism, so also
we can say with equal pride that we are Indians
and follow Islam. I shall enlarge this orbit still
further. The Indian Christian is equally entitled to
say with pride that he is an Indian and is follow-
ing a religion of India, namely Christianity.”
Lastly :
"Do we, Indian Mussalmans, view the free India of
the future with suspicion and distrust or with courage
and confidence? If we view it with fear and suspi-
cion, then undoubtedly we have to follow a different
path. No present declaration, no promise for the
future, no constitutional safeguards, can be a remedy for
our doubts and fears. We are then forced to tolerate
the existence of a third power. This third power is
already entrenched here and has no intention of
withdrawing and, if we follow this path of fear, we
Masoh 30, 1940 :
HAIIIJAN
61
must nseds look forvcard to its continuance. But if
v*7e are convinced that for us iear and doubt nave
no place, and iha.t vre must view the future
with courage and conhdence in ourselves, then our
course of action becomes absolutely clear. We
find ourselves in a new v/orld, which is free from the
dark shadows ot doubt, vacillation, inaction and
apathy, and where the light of faith and determina^
lion, action and enthusiasm never fails. The con-
fusions of the times, the ups and downs that come
our way, the difncuities that beset cur thorny path,
cannot change the direction of our steps. It becomes
our bounden cuty then to march v/itti assured steps
to India’s national goal.
i arrived at this definite conclusion without the
least hesitation, and e\ery fibre of my being
revolted against the former alternative. I could not
bear the thought of it. i could not conceive it
possible for a Mussalman to tclerate this, unless he
has rooted out the spirit ot Islam from every
corner of his being.”
So much lor the Mussalmans. As for the
British who are not tired of repeating the
obstacle of the communal question as an
insuperable one, be declares:
“ We could attach no greater importance to it,
than to make it the first condition for the attain-
ment of our national goal. The Congress has always
held this belief ; no one can challenge this fact. It
has always held to two basic principles in this
connection, and every step was taken deliberately
v;ith these in view.
( 1 ) Whatever constitution is adopted for India,
there must be the fullest guarantees in it for the
rights and interesrs of minorities.
( 2 j The minorities should judge for them-
selves what safeguards are necessary for the protection
of their rights and interests. The majority should
not decide this. Ttieiefore the decision in this respect
must depend upon the consent of the minorities
and not on a majority vote
The manner in which the Congress has dealt with
this problem today in connection with the Consti-
tuent Assembly, throws a flood of light on these
two principles and clarifies them. The recognised
minorities have a right, if they so please, to choose
their representatives by their votes. Their represen-
tatives will not have to rely upon the votes of
any other community except their own. So far as
the question of the rights and the interests of
the minorities is concerned, the decision will not
depend upon the majority of votes in the
Constituent Assembly. It will be subject to
the consent of the minority. If unanimity is not
achieved on any question, then an impartial tribunal,
to which the minorities have also consented, will
decide the matter. This last proviso is merely in
the nature of a provision for a possible contingency,
and is most unlikely to be required. If a more
practical proposal is made, there can be no
objection to it.”
The Background
^Many people have described the Ramgarh Con-
gress and the passing of the single resolution as
a unique triumph for Gandhiji, But I wish I
had the words to give even a faint picture of
the awesome travail that Gandhij: was going
through during the last three days of the
Congress. There V7as no question before him of
triumph or failure. There was before him the
sole question of whether he v^ouid be able to
shoulder the terrible responsibility that was being
placed upon him, to bear the weight of the
unthinking trust that was being reposed in
biro. He had pleaded wdth the members of the
Woricmg Committee to relieve him of the burden.
It would free them from w^hat might be acting
upon them as an incubus, and it would at
the same time leave him free to pursue
his experiment of ahirnsa more intensively and
without thought of the millions who locked to
him for direction. “ I may be a broken reed
and may well land you into unexpected troubles.
I might not begin che movement for an
indefinite length of time, and I might stop it
abruptly However much you may agree with
me, your ahimsa does not go as far as mine.
xAnd if after twenty years of practice of it 1 have
noc been able to vvin the afiection and trust of
the Mussalmans, my ahimsa must be of a very
poor quality indeed. Why not then let me
further examine myself, and make further
researches ? " To the Maulana he said : “ I have
not the slightest doubt that the Congress and
the nation can have nothing to lose and every-
thing to gain by the step. There is no question
of my distrusting you or other members of the
Working Committee or the nation. It is a
question of my distrust in myself. I am sure
that, if you release me, I shall be able to give
even civil disobedience a purer and a nobler
shape.” But the Maulana demurred. He some-
how could not reconcile himself to the step.
“ You must not forget,” he said with visible
emotion. ” that it was at your command that I
accepted to serve this year, and you cannot now
forsake me.” There was now nothing for it but
to bear the burden. The speeches at the
Subjects Committee and the open Congress made
after the passing of the resolution, translated
fairly fully in this issue, should be read with
this background in view.
M. D.
JUST^ PUBLISHED
One Step Forward
The report of the first Conference of Basic
National Education, Poona, October 1939. Pages
292 + 24. Price .Rs. 1—4 — 0. Postage 4 As. extra.
( Hindustani )
By Krishnadas Gandhi, Chapter I, 45 Pages,
Price 4 As. Postage 1 Anna extra.
Educational Reconstruction
Price Rs. 1-4-0 Postage 3 As. extra
Available at ( 1 ) Harijan Office — Poona 4;
(2) Harijan Office — 67 & 81 Queen’s Road,
Bombay 2.
62
HARIJAN [ March 30^ 1940
THE OLD GAME
The Britisher today wases indignant at being
reminded that the communal problem in India,
as we see it today, is largely the creation of
the British themselves and a part and parcel of
the imperialist game of ‘ divide and rule But
he can do so, as the following narrative will
show, in the teeth of recorded history.
A friend has sent a penetrating monograph,
based on a study of diaries of Lady Minto,
that throws a flood of light on this phase of
British Indian policy. In the winter of 1905-06,
George V, as Prince of Wales, made a tour of
India and returned to England in the spring of
1906. In a letter to Lord Minto, the then
Viceroy, dated 11th May 1906, Lord Morley
wrote :
“Yesterday I had a long conversation with the
Prince of Wales in which he gave me an immensely
interesting account of his impressions in India. His
key word is that we should get on better if our
administrators showed wider sympathy ....He talked of
the National Congress rapidly becoming a great
power. My own impression, formed long ago, and
confirmed since I came to this office, is that it
will mainly depend upon ourselves whether the
Congress is a power for good or evil. There it is,
whether we like it or not.
To this letter Lord Minto replied on May
28th. 1906:
As to Congress there is much that is
absolutely disloyal in the movement and that there
is danger for the future, I have no doubt. You
see extracts from the Vernacular press; the great
bulk of the tone of it can only be termed disloyal.
I have been thinking a good deal lately of a
possible counterpoise to Congress dims. I think we
may find a solution in the Council of Princes or
in an elaboration of that idea, a Privy Council not
only of Native Rulers, but of a few other big men
to meet, say once a year, for a week or a fortnight,
at Delhi for instance. Subjects for discussion and
procedure would have to be very carefully thought
out, but we should get different ideas from those of
the Congress emanating from men already possessing
great interest in the good government of India....
I cannot say how much I am with you as to
'sympathy’... But with all one’s desire for ‘sympathy’
one- must not lose sight of hard facts. We are
here a small British garrison, surrounded by millions
composed of factors of an inflammability unknown to
the Western world, unsuited to Western forms of
government, and we must be ’physically strong or
go to the wall. ’* ^ ( Italics mine )
About the same time a number <of distinguish-
ed Anglo-Indians, including Sir W^alter Lawrence,
Private Secretary to Lord Curzon (1898-1903 )!
Sir Valentine Chirol, Times correspondent. Sir
Sydney Low, special correspondent during the
Royal visit to India (1905-06), were, in their
self-appo inted role of saviours of the Empire,
1. Motley’s Recollections, Vol, II, p. 170-71,
2. Lady Minto's Diary, p. 23-29.
plying Lord Morley with their ‘ expert ’ advice.
In a letter dated 19th June 1906, Morley wrote
to Minto :
“ Everybody warns us that a new spirit is grow-
ing and spreading! over India. Lawrence, Chirol,
Sydney Low, all sing the same song : ‘ You cannot
go on governing in the same spirit; you have got
to deal with the Congress Party and Congress
principles, whatever you may think of them. Be
sure that before long Mohammedans will throw -in
their lot with the Congressmen against you and
so on and so forth. I do not know how true this
may or may not be.
The latter, in his reply on June 27th, showed
that he was fully alive to the ' danger’. He
recognised the Congress Party as a power with
which he had to deal and with whose leaders
he had to reckon.^
What followed is worth noting closely. With-
in a few months a Mohammedan deputation, head-
ed by the Aga Khan, presented an address to
Lord Minto at Simla on October 1, 1906, It
was to the effect that •“ the Mohammedan com-
munity should be represented as a community,”
and that the position of the Mohammedans
should be estimated ” not merely on their
numerical strength but in respect to the politi-
cal importance of the community and service
it rendered to the Empire.*’ ( Italics mine ) Lord
Minto replied to it in terms that have set
the pattern for all official pronouncement since
down to Sir Samuel Hoare and Lord Zetland
in our time on the communal question :
“ I am entirely in accord with you I am
as firmly convinced as I believe you to be, that
any electoral representation in India would be doom-
ed to mischievous failure which aimed at granting a
personal enfranchisement, regardless of the beliefs and
traditions of the communities composing the popula-
tion of this continent. The great mass of the people
of India have no knowledge of the representative
institutions. In the meantime I can only say that the
Mahommedan community may rest assured that their
political rights and interests as a community will be
safeguarded by any administrative reorganisation
with which I am concerned.”
There is a significant entry in Lady Minto’s
diary under the date October 3, 1906, which
provides a very revealing commentary on the
nature and origin of the Mahommedan deputa-
tion which Lord Minto showed such willingness
to oblige. In expressing grief at the passing
away of the great Mahommedan leader, Nawab
Mohsin-ul-Mulk, who had died in Simla, among
his good points she prominently notes that “he
it was who engineered the recent Mohammedan
deputation. ** Equally illuminating is the entry
under October 1, 1906, which is set down as
“ a very eventful day. and epoch in Indian
history”. That evening he received the follow-
ing letter from an official whose name and
identity are not disclosed: “I must send your
3. /6/d, p. 30. 4, /6td, p. 31.
March 30, 1940]
Excellency a line to say that a very big thing
has happened today, a work of statesmanship
that will affect India and Indian history for
many a long year. It is nothing less than the
pulling back cf 62 millions of people from join--
ing the ranks of the seditious opposition'' The
attitude taken up by Whitehall with regard to
the Mohammedan question was reflected in the
Secrerary o£ State’s letter to Lord Minto ( Janu-
ary 28, 1909 ), after an interview with “ the
sons of the Crescent ”, as Lord Moriey pictu-
resquely put it. It is a naked statement of the
policy of balancing one community against the
other. “How could I satisfy them by a straight
declaration off my bat,” he wrote. “ We have to
take care that in picking up the Musalmans we
do not drop our Hindu parcels^ and this makes
it impossible to blurt out the full length to which
we are or may be ready to go in the Moslem
direction/' (Italics mine) In the letter dated
Februaty 1909 by the Secretary of State to Lord
Minto, the cynicism is even more brutally frank:
“I begged the Aga Khan to dismiss from his
mind, what I had stated, that, like all other
English radicals, I had hatred of Islam. What other
Liberals thought of Islam, I did not know, but
for myself, if I were to have a label, I should
be called a Positivist, and in the Positivist
Calendar, framed by Comte after the manner of
Catholics, Mahomet is one of the great leading
saints, and has the high honour of giving his
name to a WeekU This will soon be expanded
into a paragraph in The Daily Mail, that, the
Indian S. S, has turned Mahometan. That, at
any rate, would tend to soften Mahometcm aliena-
tion from our plans. Forgive all this nonsense.
Like many another man of grave (or dull)
temperament, I seek snatches of relief from
boredom by clapping on a fool’s cap at odd
moments.” (Italics mine)
Later on, however, as the fruits of his policy
began to give him a foretaste of what was
coming, Lord Moriey seems to have felt uneasy
misgivings within him that he had perhaps gone
too far in the Mohammedan direction, and that
it was necessary to cry a halt. It appears
that the India Council, especially Sir Theodore
Morrison, was anxious to favour the Muslim
cjaims. On August 6, 1909, Lord Moriey wrote
to Lord Minto as follows:
“ Morrison is pertinacious up to the eleventh hour
about his M. friends; insists on our pledges, and
predicts a storm of M’s reproach and dissatisfaction-
It may be so. On the other hand, G. predicts that
departure from the line we have agreed upon in our
dispatch, would provoke at least as much reproach
and dissatisfaction among the Hindus. We shall there-
fore have a stubborn talk in Council, to which I
shall not contribute more than two or three stubborn
sentences. I am the least in the world of a Crom-
wellian, but I am beginning to understand, in a way
never understood before* how impatience at the delays
and cavilling and mistaking of very small points for
big ones at last drove Oliver to send his Coun-
63
cillors packing.”
In his letter of August 26 to Lord Minto,
the reaction has become even more marked. He
is already talking about his determination to
‘ put his foot definitely down' :
“ Morrison tells me that a Mahometan is coming
over here on purpose to see me, and will appear on
Monday next. Whatever happens, / ajn quite sure
that it was high time to put our foot definitely
doxon and to let them know that the process of
haggling has gone on long enough, come what may,
I •am only sorry wc could not do it earlier''^
( Italics mine }
The last entry relating to this dismal episode
is dated December 6, 1909. The wheel has come
full circle. Writes the philosopher Secretary of
State to Lord Minto, with ill-concealed chagrin,
“ I won’t follow you again into our Mahometan
dispute.' Only I respectfully remind you once
more that it was your early speecli about their
extra claims that first started the M. hare. I
am convinced my decision was best.” But it
was too late to retract. The mischief was done.
The “ counterpoise to Congress aims ”, that Lord
Minto had envisaged, was created in the form
of communal representation. Sixty two millions
of people were “ pulled back ” from “ joining
the seditious ranks”. But the most surprising
part of the story is that Nationalist India is
today called upon, by the successors of the
statesman who deliberately started the “hare’
of communaiism, to- expiate for their predecessors’
sins I
The other expedient, not less Machiavellian,
suggested by Lord Minto in pursuance of his
policy of divide and rule was not left untried.
We see it in full swing today even like the
communal device. But the story of the exploit-
ation -of the princely order for strengthening
and perpetuating the imperialist structure I must
reserve for full narration on another occasion.
Ramgarh, 16-3-40 Pyarelal
5. Moriey ’s Recollections, Vol- II p. 296-97.
6. Ibid, Vol. II. p. 315.
7. Ibid, „ p. 317.
To Correspondents and Message-seekers
In spite of my notice in Harijan of Decem-
ber 23rd those who can spare me continue to
write and ask for messages. I would refer them
to the notice for fuller explanation. I know
several intimate friends have not received acknow-
ledgments or messages. They will forgive me.
I have to harden my heart if I am to cope
with the responsibility I am carrying. And what
can be better than that I should commence with
known friends?
Sevagram, 15-1-40 M. K. G«
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Eadhakrishnan. Rs. 5-10-0. Postage 7 As.
Available at Harijan office-Poona 4, and 67 & 81
Queen’s Road, Bombay 2.
H ABU AN
64
HARIJAIN'
[ March 30, 1940
EVERY CONGRESS COMMITTEE
A SATYAGRAHA COMMITTEE
(By M, K, Gandhi )
When I said at the Subjects Committee meet-
ing at Ramgarh that every Congress Committee
should become a Satyagraha Committee, i meant
every word of what I said, as I meant every
word of everything else I said. I would like
every Congressman who desires to serve in the
Satyagraha Sena to read my two speeches made
at Ramgarh as well as whatever else I may
write in Harijan on the struggle, and to carry
out the instructions meant for him or her.
In the coming struggle, if it must come, no
half-hearted loyalty will answer the purpose.
Imagine a general marching to battle with doubt-
ing, ill-prepared soldiers. He will surely march
to defeat. I will not consciously make any such
fatal experiment. This is not meant to frighten
Congressmen. If they have the will, they will
not find my instructions difficult to follow.
Correspondents tell me that, though they have
no faith in me or the charkha, they ply the
latter for the sake of discipline. I do not
understand this language. Can a general fight
on the strength of soldiers who, he knows,
have no faith in him ? The plain meaning
of this language is that the correspondents
believe in mass action but do not believe in
the connection I see between it and the
charkha etc., if the action is to be non-violent.
They believe in my hold on the masses, but
they do not believe in the things which I
believe have given me that hold. They merely
want to exploit me and will grudgingly pay
the price which my ignorance or obstinacy
( according to them ) demands. I do not call
this discipline. True discipline gives enthusiastic
obedience to instructions even though they do
not satisfy reason. A volunteer exercises his
reason when he chooses his general, but after
having made the choice, he does not waste bis
time and energy in scanning every instruction
and testing it on the anvil of his reason before
following it. His is “ not to reason why
Now for my instructions.
Every Congress Committee should become a
Satyagraha Committee and register such Con-
gressmen who believe in the cultivation of the
spirit of goodwill towards all, who have no
untouchability in them in any shape or form,
who would spin regularly, and who habitually
use khadi to the . exclusion of all other cloth.
I would expect those who thus register their
names with their Committees to devote the
whole of their spare time to the constructive
programme. If the response is sincere, these
Satyagraha Committees would become busy spin-
ning depots. They will work in conjunction
with and under the guidance of A. 1. S. A,
branches in a businesslike manner so that there
remain, in the jurisdiction of the Committees, no
Congressmen who have not adopted khadi for
exclusive use. I shall expect businesslike reports
to be sent from provincial headquarters to the
A. I. C. C. as to the progress of the work of
the Satyagraha Committees. Seeing that this
registration is to be purely voluntary, the
reports would mention the numbers both of
those w'ho give their names for registration and
those who do not.
The registered Satyagrabis will keep a diary
of the work that they do from day to day.
Their work, besides their own spinning, will
consist in visiting the primary members and
inducing them to use khadi, spin and register
themselves. Whether they do so or not, contact
should be maintained with them.
There should be visits paid to Harijan homes
and their difficulties removed so far as possible.
Needless to say that names should be
registered only of those who are willing and
able to suffer imprisonment.
No financial assistance is to be expected by
Satyagrahi prisoners whether for themselves or
their dependants.
So much for the active Satyagrabis. But there
is a much larger class of men and women who,
though they will not spin or court or suffer
imprisonment, believe in the two cardinal
principles of Satyagraha and welcome and wish
well to the struggle. These I will call passive
Satyagrabis. They will help equally with the
active ones, if they will not interfere with the
course of the struggle by themselves courting
imprisonment or aiding or precipitating strikes
of labourers or students. Those who out of
overzeal or for any other cause will act contrary
to these instructions will harm the struggle and
may even compel me to suspend it. When the
forces of violence are let loose all over the
world and when nations reputed to be most
civilized cannot think of any force other than
that of arms for the settlement of their disputes,
I hope that it will be possible to say of India
that she fought and won the battle of freedom
by purely peaceful means.
I am quite clear in my mind that, given the
co-operation of politically-minded India, the
attainment of India’s freedom is perfectly possi-
ble through unmixed non-violence. The world
does not believe our pretension of non-violence.
Let alone the world, I, the self-styled general,
have repeatedly admitted that we have violence
in our hearts, that we are often violent to
one another in our mutual dealings. I must
confess that I will not be able to fight so long
as we have violence in our midst. But I will
fight if the proposed register is honest and
if those who courageously keep out will not
disturb the even course of the struggle.
Maech 30, 1940 j
HAEIJAN
65
Non-violent action means mobilisation of world
opinion in our favour. I know that a growing
number of thinking men and women of the
world are sick of the war spirit, they are
longing for a way of peace, and they are look-
ing to India to point that way. We cannot
have that opinion on our side if we are not
honestly non-violent. Let me repeat what I have
said in these columns that I shall be able to
fight with a very small army of honest Satya-
grabis and shall feel powerless and embarrassed
if I have a huge army in which I can have
no trust or as to whose behaviour I am not
always sure.
I expect the A. I. C. C. to organise Satyagraha
Committees and report to me from time to time
of the progress made. If there is an enthusi-
astic response, inside of one month it should
be possible to forecast the exact period required
to put the Satyagraha Committees in working
order.
Sevagram, 25-3-40
MY ANSWER TO QUAID-E-AZAM
( By Al. Gandhi )
Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah is reported to have said:
** Mr. Gandhi has been saying for the last 20
years that there cannot be any Swaraj without
Hindu-Muslim unity. Mr, Gandhi is fighting for a
Constituent Assembly. May I point out to Mr.
Gandhi and the Congress that they are fighting for
a Constituent Assembly which we 'cannot accept ?
Therefore, the idea of a Constituent Assembly is
impracticable and unacceptable. Mr, Gandhi wants
a Constituent Assembly for purposes of ascertaining
the views of Muslims, and if they do not agree,
he would then give up all hope and then will
agree with us. If there exists the will to come to
a settlement with the Muslim League, then why
does not Mr. Gandhi, as I have said more than
once, honestly agree that the Congress is a Hindu
organization and that it does not represent anything
but the solid body of Hindus ? Why should Mr.
Gandhi not be proud to say : ‘ I am a Hindu and
the Congress is a Hindu body’ ? I am not asham-
ed of saying that I am a Muslim and that the
Muslim League is the representative of Muslims.
Why all this camouflage, why this threat of civil
disobedience, and why this fight for a Constituent
Assembly ? Why should not Mr. Gandhi come as
a Hindu leader and let me meet him proudly
representing the Mussulmans ?”
My position is and has been clear, I am proud
of being a Hindu, but I have never gone to
anybody as a Hindu to secure Hindu Muslim
unity. My Hinduism demands no pacts. My
support of the Khilafat was unconditional. I am
no politician in the accepted sense. But whatever
talks I had with Quaid-e-Azam or any other
have been on behalf of the Congress which is
not a Hindu organisation. Can a Hindu organisa-
tion have a Muslim divine as President, and can
its Working Committee have 4 Muslim members
oUt of 15? I still maintain that there is no
Swaraj without Hindu Muslim unity. I can never
be party to the coercion of Muslims or any
other minority. The Constituent Assembly as
conceived by me is not intended to coerce
anybody. Its sole sanction will be an agreed
solution of communal questions. If there is
no agreement, the Constituent Assembly will
be automatically dissolved. The Constituent
Assembly or any body of elected representatives
can alone have a fully representative status.
The Congress representative capacity has been
ana can be questioned. But who can question
the sole representative capacity of the elected
delegates to the Constituent Assembly ? I cannot
understand the Muslim opposition to the pro-
posed Constituent Assembly. Are the opponents
afraid that the Muslim League will not be elected
by Muslim voters? Do they not realise that any
Muslim demand made by the Muslim delegates
will be irresistible? If the vast majority of Indian
Muslims feel that they are not one nation with
their Hindu and other brethren, who will be
able to resist them ? But surely it is permissible
to dispute the authority of the 50,000 Muslims
who listened to Quaid-e-Azam to represent the
feelings of eight crores of Indian Muslims.
Sevagram, 26-3-40
A BRAVE STA.TEMENT
[ Shri Jaiprakash Narayan sent me a copy of
his statement before the court which is printed
below„ It is worthy of him, brave, brief and to
the point. It is an irony of fate, as he himself
has said, that his patriotism should be penalised.
What tens of thousands think and thousands
say in their talks, Shri Jaiprakash has said in
public and before the very men who are pro-
ducing war material. It is true that, if his
words take effect and they are repeated, the
Government would be embarrassed. But such
embarrassment should set them thinking about
their treatment of India instead of punishing
a patriot for his open thinking.
The concluding portion of the statement proves
the author’s intense humanitarianism. He has
no malice in him. He wants to end Imperial-
ism and Nazism. He has no quarrel with
Englishmen or Germans and says truly that, if
England were to shed imperialism, not only
India but the freedom-loving people of the
whole world would exert themselves to see the
defeat of Nazism and the victory of freedom
and democracy.
Sevagram, 26-3-40 M. K. G. ]
THE STATEMENT
“I have been charged with trying to impede
the production of munitions and other supplies
essential > to the efficient prosecution of the war,
and with trying to influence the conduct and
attitude of the public in a manner prejudicial
to the defence of British India and the efficient
prosecution of the war. I plead guilty to these
charges.
66
HARIJAN
These charges, however, do not constitute a
guilt for me but a duty which I discharge
regardless of the consequence. That they also
constitute an offence under certain laws of the
foreign Government established by force in this
country, does not concern me. The object of
these laws is diametrically opposed to the object
of nationalist India of which I am but an
humble representative. That we should come in
conflict is only natural.
My country is not a party to this war in
any manner, for it regards both German Nazism
and British Imperialism as evils and enemies,
Iz finds that both the sides in this war are
driven by selfish ends of conquest and domination,
exploitation and oppression. Great Britain is fight-
ing not to destroy Nazism, which it has nurtured,
but to curb a rival whose might can no longer
be allowed to grow unchallenged. It is fighting
to maintain its dominant place in the world
and to preserve its imperial power and glory.
As far as India is concerned, Great Britain is
fighting to perpetuate the Indian Empire.
Plainly, India can have no truck with such a
war. No Indian can permit the resources of his
country to be utilized to buttress up imperial-
ism, and to be converted through the processes
of the war into the chains of his country’s
slavery. The Congress, the only representative
voice of nationalist India, has already pointed
out this sacred duty to the people of this
country. I, as an humble servant of the Congress,
have only tried to fulfil this duty.
The British Government on the other hand,
in utter disregard for Indian opinion, has declar-
ed India a belligerent power and is utilizing
Indian men, money and materials for a war
to which we have pledged our uncompromis-
ing opposition. This is in the nature of an
aggression against India, no less serious in
the circumstances than German aggression against
Poland. India cannot but resist this aggres-
sion. It therefore becomes the patriotic duty
of every Indian to oppose the attempt of the
British Government to use the country’s resour-
ces for its imperialist ends. Thus the charge
framed against me of trying to impede the
efficient prosecution of the war is only the ful-
filment of a patriotic duty. That the British
Government should consider what is a duty for
patriotic India to be an offence, only proves
further its imperialist character.
Regarding the speech for which I am being
prosecuted, I cannot say how far it succeeded
in achieving its ends. But nothing would please
me more than to learn that it did have some
success in impeding the effective prosecution of
the war. I shall deem the heaviest punishment
well earned if I am found to have succeeded
in this.
As for the charge of endangering the defence
of British India, I think the irony of it cannot
he lost upon us. A slave has no obligation to
defend his slavery. His only obligation -is to
[ March 30 , 1940
destroy his bondage. I hope we shall know
how to defend ourselves when we have achieved
our freedom.
I consider it fortunate that I have been prose-
cuted for a Jamshedpur speech. This important
industrial centre, which I consider the mos^
important in the country, is peculiarly backward
politically and from the point of view of the
labour movement. I shall derive some satisfac-
tion in prison, where I expect inevitably to find
myself, from the thought that my arresc and
incarceration for a speech delivered there has
attracted to that city the notice of the political
and labour leaders of my country. It seems
scandalous to me that the country’s most vital
resources should be so wasted in a war to
which we are so firmly opposed. And it seems
no less scandalous to me that while labour
throughout the country should be reacting vigor-
ously to the conditions created by the war,
Jamshedpur labour should carry on as if nothing
extraordinary has happened. May, at least, the
demand for a war bonus gain some momentum
from this prosecution.
Before concluding 1 should like to add that,
lest as an Englishman you should misunderstand
me, I should make it clear that in impeding
the prosecution of the war I have no desire to
help Germany or to see Germany victorious. I
desire the victory neither of Imperialism nor
of Nazism. Yet, as a Congressman and a socia-
list I have nothing but goodwill for the British
and German people. If India’s opposition to
Britain’s imperialist war ensures a Nazi victory,
it is for the British people to decide whether
they would have Nazi hegemony or victory
with real democracy at home and in India. If
the people of Great Britain remove their present
rule and renounce imperialism with its capitalist
rulers, not only India but the freedom-loving
people of the whole world would exert them-
selves to see the defeat of Nazism and the
victory of freedom and democracy. In the
present circumstances, however, India has no
alternative but to fight and end British
imperialism. Only in that manner can it contri-^
butc to the peace and progress of the world.
I am conscious, Sir, that I have made your
task easier by this statement. I do not regret it.
In the end I thank you for your courtesey
and consideration during this trial.”
Some Books by Gandhiji
Price
Postage’
Satyagraba in South Africa
Rs. 4
8
0
8
My Early Life
1
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0
2
Speeches and Writings
4
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9
Cent Per Cent Swadeshi
1
8
0
5
Hind Swaraj
0
4
0
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From Yeravda Mandir
Self-Restraint v. Self-Indulgence
0
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Parts I & II ( each)
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Manager, Harijan; Poona 4;
and 81
Queen’s Road,*
Bombay 2.
I^iARCH 30, 1940 1
ACHARYA KRIPALANI‘S
ixaugural address
[The following is a synopsis of Acharya Kripa-
■ianfs inaugural address at the Basic Educational
Conference held at Poona last October. Those
who would like to read this instructive address
in full should apply to the Office of the Hindu-
stan; Taliml Sangh, Sevagram. ]
Systems of education not only here but all
over the world suffered from decadence. Seeds
of corruption set in when institutions become
compleii, over-civilised, when the primal impulse
and reason that gave them birth become
exhausted. In the dawn of history all knowledge
proceeded from the concrete, the discrete and
the real, from what could be seen and sensed.
Man and animal both had nature around them;
but man, unlike the animal, began to work upon
nature and give it new and fanciful shapes. He
acquired knowledge by this process and began to
master nature for his ever-increasing needs. In
Hindu philosophy it is said that the world is
made of rup and nam, form and name. Form
must come first and name afterwards. But in
our educational system, we have inverted this
natural order and put names and general terms
first and objects afterwards. By the new system
we are called back to mother earth, back to the
primal process of acquiring knowledge, which
humanity has successfully employed in raising itself.
When Gandhiji first announced his new reform
the learned, who had acquired their knowledge
in the orthodox way by means of words and
phrases, were up against the scheme. If they
had, instead of pronouncing judgment a priori,
studied the scheme, they would have found it
natural, scientific and psychological. All know-
ledge proceeds from observation and experiment,
frorn the practical to the theoretical. It must
be justified by human experience. Gandhiji was
thinking of this scientific process. He was also
thinking in terms of child psychology. The
child finds it natural and easy to handle and
work upon things and thus acquire knowledge.
The present system of education runs counter,
therefore, to child psychology. The essence of
■science is the investigation of truth by the
experimental method. Gandhiji claims to have
learnt through experience and experiment.
If the method is natural and scientific, it can
suit any system of education whatever its aim.
In Europe and America the craft method has
been advocated apart from any general aim. It
has been advocated for an individualist and
capitalist, as well as for a socialist or communist,
society. It has been advocated even by religious
organisations. Even so we may not forget that
Gandhiji lighted upon this method in connection
with the rest of his philosophy of life for the
individual and society. If our education has
suffered grievously from a defective and unscien-
tific method, it has suffered more from defective
and unworthy ideals. It was designed to produce
cheap coloured administrative and clerical assis-
tants for the white Government; in the words
of Macaulay, to produce a race of Anglo-Ssixons
in thought and culture who were Indians only
in the colour of their skins. The educated
Indian has thus been effectively cut off from
the masses. An unbridgeable gulf has been
created between _ him and them. The national
movement has tried to bring them together by
.giving them a common goal to strive for. If it
is, therefore, necessary to change the method in
•education, it is perhaps more necessary to
provide it with worthy and noble ideals.
To understand the philosophy of a reformer
such as Gandhiji it is necessary to view :t
against the historical background. Oniy^ so can
one fully evaluate and appreciate the changes he
proposes to bring about in the present order of
things. The march of history unfolds a struggle
to the knife of economic classes. The Marxian
interpretation of history is economic; its method
of investigation is scientific. Science has nothing
to do with final aims and values, but we are
told that the unconscious aim of this ideojiogy
is to produce a classless society. This may be
said to be a culminating point of process rather
than an aim. In spite, however, of belittling
moral and spiritual aims the Marxist has tc
posit such ends to justify all the pain and
travail of history, while Gandhiji puts these in
the very forefront of his philosophy.
The aim of history is to change the natural
man into the moral or spiritual man and make
him into a member of a moral or spiritual society.
There must be some harmonious correlation
between the life of the individual and society.
Few will quarrel with me when I say that a
moral or spiritual person is a free person, and
that human freedom cannot be thought of apart
from human responsibility. Moral man combines
free choice with due restraint, and liberty with
responsibility. To attain this end he must be' a
member of an appropriate moral society.
Humanity began with strife, violence and war.
Later it moved out of this chaotic condition and
some kind of justice and equality were establish-
ed. The law that might alone is right was
partially modified. Later still men felt within
themselves the call for a higher order of good-
ness, mercy, charity and love. The existing society
could not satisfy this inner need. Thus it was
that Buddha renounced the world and Christ
declared that his kingdom was not of this world
but of the other. And society that was divided
between masters and slaves came to be further
divided between those who followed the way of
the Lord and those who renounced the world.
The great renouncers organised societies after
their hearts’ desires, societies free from exploita-
tion, free from class distinctions of high and
low. These groups were as oases in a desert of
inequality, injustice, lust, and pride of power.
Tryanny and injustice continued unabated until
men roused themselves from age-long sleep, and
the struggle of the slaves against the masters
established what is known as democracy. Demo-
cracy asserts the moral worth of the individual
in society. If this new-found democratic principle
in the politics of the nations had been allowed
free scope to develop itself, it might have saved
nations from internal conflicts and established a
unified social order. But scientific inventions and
discoveries of new lands ushered in the industrial
revolution and the modern empire. This divided
humanity into the haves and the have-nots. The
new need became economic and gave birth to
the cult of socialism which proclaims the equa-
lity of man in the economic field. We see this
socialism at work in Russia. Some sort of eco-
nomic equality has been established but by the
curtailment of individual 'initiative and liberty.
For the new creed the individual apart from
society does not exist. Bolshevik economic equality
is built upon big centralised mechanised industry
and agriculture and naturally affects the political
field also. The result is bureaucratic rule.
In ancient times the most absolute of rulers
had certain limits placed upon their tyranny and
rapacity by the morality of the age as embodied
in custom, religion, superstition. Modern dendio-
kaeijan
HARIJAN
68
cracy caaie in simultaneouslv with the advance
of scientific research. The freedom of the indivi-
dual divested of moral responsibility introduced
a chaotic element. Only recently when demo-
cracy IS in danger have its advocates dimly
begun to realise that it is not merely a poli-
tical device but a great and moral principle.
Gandhiji believes in the spiritual origin and
destiny of man. This destiny has got to be
worked out by the average man and woman in
a moral society. It is therefore necessary that
the means must in all spheres be as pure as
the end. In all insticutions guided by him it is
Gandhiji’s eflEbrt to retain for humanity the
moral and material gains of democracy and social-
ism. His advocac;v of cottage and village indus-
tries along wdth decentralised agriculture and
commerce connotes a moral principle. He is too
moral and humanitarian to allow the machine
to sw-allow up the free individual. Political life,
internal and international, must be guided by truth
aud non-violence. There must be no secret
diplomacy and armaments. Holders of political
powder must be the servants of their people. Their
economic life must be in keening with the ave-
rage standards of comfort prevalent in the nation.
No work or profession must be considered high
or low. Every worker, however humble, is not
only worthy of his wage but also of honour.
All Gandhiji’s practical programmes are directed
towards the concrete aim of providing moral man
with a moral society. His philosophy works for
a non-violent revolution and ushers in a new
epoch in history. It is to educate the indivi-
dual and society in the light of the nrir.ciri.c*:
of this new revolution that he has propounded
his new scheme of education. It is a natural and
scientific method with worthy and noble aims. It
is in this light that the scheme should be judged.
A CHIEF JUDGE DESCENDS
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A correspondent sends me a newspaper report
of a speech delivered by the Chief Judge of
Mysore at a meeting recently held in Bangalore
to help the war. He is reported to have said :
The Allies were not fighting for democracy or
any particular form of government. They were
only fighting so that all nations might live in peace
and develop on their own lines. They were fighting
to put an end to all forms of aggression by one
nation against others. Let them not in India be
too sure -that the war would not touch them
directly. War touched every one of them in India
and also the generations yet unborn.
He knew that most people in India were prepared
to do their utmost to ensure the victory of the
Allies. But some people had stood aloof. The
leaders of a certain political party in this country
had decided that this was the proper occasion for
them to bargain for their political ends, had threa-
tened that, if what they asked for was not granted,
they would create trouble in India and so help the
enemy. Such action on their part had greatly
encouraged the enemy too.
In every history there were some pages which
people of the nation concerned read with shame.
He was sure that when the history of India came
to be written Indian children of the future would
skip over with shame that part relating to the
tactics of such politicians as he had referred to.
[ March 30, 1940
He was quite certain that such persons who
bargained for their political rights at this hour did
not represent the heart of India. If he had thought
that they did, he would wish he had never set foot
in India. But he had lived in India for 40 yea^s
and knew that India as a nation was quite
generous and warm-hearted and would respond to
all good causes."
It is hardly likely that His Honour the Chief
Judge knows of the secrets of the British
Cabinet. In any event, if Britain is fighting
against mere aggression, it can hardly be called
a worthy aim. Having been the foremost
aggressor in the world Britain could not justify
her fight against Germany on the pretext put
forth by the learned Chief Judge.
My correspondent in sending the cutting says
in his covering letter :
“ 1. He ought not to have entered into matters
of political controversy at a non-parfy meeting
convened under royal auspices.
2. He, being the Chief Justice of a High Court,
overstepped the bciinds of property in publicly
attacking the politics of a particular party.
3, He, being a judicial officer of an Indian State,
ought not to have gone out of the way and meddled
with the party politics of British India.”
I think the criticism is just. The Congress
will survive the attack. But I do not know
whether the Paramount Power should not take
notice of the Chief Judge’s extraordinary utterance.
Surely he misuses the word bargain when he
applies it to the Congress policy. What is there
to be ashamed of in the Congress seeking the deli-
verance of the country from foreign rule even
when the foreigner is in distress ? If the Congress
was not committed to the method of peace, it
would have been not only justified but would have
deemed it its duty to take advantage of Britain’s
diflficulty by creating a state of rebellion in*
the country by every means at its disposal. But
the Congress has adopted the policy of peace.
No doubt it would have done better if it could
have honestly accepted my advice. The choice
before the Congress was not between two evils
but between good and better. The better was
beyond its ability and would therefore have
harmed and weakened it. Thus ‘ good ’ was the
best for the Congress, and so I threw in my
lot with it. I would have been a traitor if,
having led the Congress to accept non-violence
as its policy, I had remained on my pedestal
and refused to guide the great organisation. It
ill becomes those who believe in war as an
accepted institution to charge the Congress with
the spirit of bargaining. The word is a misfit
when it is applied to the life and death struggle
of a nation bent upon vindicating its right to
freedom.
Sevagram, 25-3-40
NOTICE
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now from 11 A. M. to 7-30 p, M. Address: 67 & 81
Queen’s Road, Bombay 2. Manager
March 30, 1940 ]
HAEIJAIT
6g
THE TWO SPEECHES
[For the first time during the last six years,
2 : e. ever since his retirement from the Congress,
Gandhiji expressed his own desire to address the
Subjects Committee and also the delegates. I
have given in my notes a glimpse of his mental
background. The physical background was pro-
vided by some of the speeches of the members
of the Subjects Committee and the delegates
which he had gone specially to hear. At the
Subjects Committee at about quarter to ten on
the evening of the 18th, Gandhiji addressed the
meeting, and nearly twenty thousand people
listened to him in a silence that matched the
stillness of the night — the only sound being that
of his speech delivered in firm, deliberate, un-
faltering tones giving to everyone the impression
that the speaker was in dead earnest and would
not be trifled with. The speech at the open
Congress on the 20th was delivered to an
audience of about fifty thousand who had stayed
for the Congress undeterred by the torrential
rain of the previous evening and night. It was
nearing noon but the rain-clouds shielded the
audience from the heat of the sun. There was
the same stillness and the same atmosphere as
on the evening of the 18th. M. D.]
I
AT THE SUBJECTS COMMITTEE
To Find Out Where I Was
Since I went out of the Congress at Bombay,
there has been an understanding between me
and the Working Committee that I should not
be asked to speak at tbe A. I. C. C. or the
Subjects Committee or the open session, and
should be allowed to conserve the little strength
that is left in me. I have usually been attend-
ing the meeting of tbe Working Committee. On
this occasion, I myself suggested . that I should
address the Subjects- Committee and also the
delegates. The Working Committee agreed to this
and, although I wanted to address you before the
resolution was adopted, the Committee suggested
that Ido so after the resolution was disposed of.
It was my desire to see the faces of you all,
■ and also to give you an opportunity of looking
at me and finding out if there had been any
change in me since my retirement in Bombay.
Fifty years of public life have given me the
capacity to read your faces. I have during these
years created many institutions, met thousands
•and tens of thousands of people, and it should
not therefore be difficult for me to get at the
back of your minds. But my desire to see you
•was in order to find out where I was.
Difficulties
You have, I see, made considerable progress
in the art of debate and I congratulate you, for
-in a democratic organisation powers of persua-
sion and a high level of debate are essential. I
have also seen that the number of amendments
you move has also increased, and it is well
that you should all be anxious to press new
ftoints of view, though I cannot congratulate
you on some of the amendments which were
either frivolous or abs'urd.
You have adopted the resolution practically
unanimously as there were only seven or eight
dissentients. That adds to my responsibility, for
I have been witness to tbe debate. If I had so
desired. I should have warned you before voting,
but I accepted the suggestion of the Working
Committee that I should not address the house
before tbe resolution was passed.
I do not want to reply to what has been
said by some of you in the course of the debate.
But I do want to say that, though there was
a time in my life when I launched movements
even if some of my conditions had not been
fulfilled, I am now going to be hard, not for
the sake of being hard, but because a General
who has to lead the army must let the army
know his conditions beforehand.
• Let me then- tell you that I do not see at
the present moment conditions propitious for an
immediate launching of the campaign. We are
hemmed in with difficulties greater than those
we had to face in the past. They are external
and internal. The external difficulties are due
to the fact that we have declared unmistakably
what we want and. the Government have also
declared their intentions as clearly as possible.
Then there is the fact that the British Govern-
ment are engaged in a world war and naturally,
if we engage them in a flight, we ask for
enough trouble.
What, however, appals me is our internal
difficulties, I have often said that external
difficulties need never frighten a Satyagrahi. On
the contrary, he flourishes on external difficulties
and faces them with redoubled zeal and vigour.
Today the situation is almost the reverse. Our
external difficulties do not find us stronger
and more united. Our internal difficulties are
increasing. Our Congrsss registers are full of
bogus members and members who have swelled
them because they know that getting into the
Congress means getting into power. Those who
therefore never before thought of entering the
Congress have come into it and corrupted it. And
how can we prevent people from coming into
a democratic organisation because they come
from selfish motives? We have not that discipline,
and not the strength and purity of public opinion
which would compel such people to stay out.
And this strength and purity cannot come so
long as we approach the primary members only
once in a year for the vote There is no dis-
cipline in our ranks, they have been divided up
into groups which strive to gain more and more
power. Non-violence as between ourselves does
not seem to us to be necessary. There may be
groups, but they should strengthen and not
weaken and destroy the organisation.
No Democracy in an Army
Ours has been both a democratic organisa-
tion and a fighting one, ever since we reorga-
nised it in 1920. We have used even military
HABIJAJT
[March 30, 194^>
. 72
HOW TO EVOKE THE BEST
( By M. K. Gandhi )
An Indian protagonist of Britain writes :
“ If our aim is to arouse the best in Englishmen
through our non-violence and thus create mutual
trust, we have signally failed. Our actions have not
beeu in conformity with our professions. Our best
period of non-violence ( when we manufactured least
hatred towards England ) was the period of Con-
gress regime in provinces. On account of personal
contact with Governors, mutual trust was generated.
Even that period was not free from rancour, but
now the whole atmosphere is again getting surchar-
ged with nothing but hatred towards England.
Cordiality is being replaced by bitterness and trust
by distrust. All our activities and arguments
are only arousing the worst in the Englishmen.
What visible demonstration have we given of
our non-violence or of our desire to cultivate
goodwill ? Armed rebellion and coercion through
uncivil disobedience, no doubt, are ruled out. But the
threat of disobedience is still there, and since pure
non-violence at present is not existent, even mere
threat of war cannot but rouse violent passions; and
so there is no hope of developing that goodwill for-
which pledges were taken. Is not a compromise
based on give and take a more appropriate machi-
nery for ( 1 ) Creating a non-violent atmosphere ;
(2) Creating goodwill, ( 3 ) Rousing the best in the
Englishmen and, ( 4 ) Creating a short cut to
Independence through mutual co-operation ?’*
The argument does credit to the heart of
the writer, but he misses the method of non-
violence. He has started with a half premise.
Our aim is not merely to arouse the best in
Englishmen but to do so whilst we are prose-
cuting our cause. If we cease to pursue our
course, we do not evoke the best in him but
we pander to the evil in him. The best must
not be confounded with good temper. When we
are dealing with any evil, we may have to
rujSEle the evil-doer. We have to run the risk,
if we are to bring the best out of him. I have
likened non-violence to aseptic and violence to
antiseptic treatment. Both are intended to ward
off the evil, and therefore cause a kind of dis-
turbance which is often inevitable. The first
never harms the evil-doer.
Whilst I agree with the critic that our non-
violence has not been unadulterated, I must
dissent from the view that wc have signally
failed. 1 am unable to agree that the best
period of non-violence was the period of Con-
gress regime. During that period non-violence
was inactive. For each tried to please the
other. Both were seemingly pursuing a common
policy, though each had known reservations.
The visible demonstration we have given of
non-violence is that violent action has been
successfully and entirely avoided through Con-
gress influence. Being too near the event we
are not able to have a true measure of the
great restraint exercised by millions of men and
women. I grant that we have not yet shed
violence of the heart. But the amazing self-
restraint exercised by the people fills me with
the hope that violence of the heart will in due
course give place to goodwill towards the
opponent. It will never come if the critic’s
plan of the policy of timidity, as I should call
it, is pursued. Hatred will melt when restraint
has been exercised sufficiently long to starve it.
The effect of it on the English mind will also
be equally wholesome in the long run. English-
men will perceive that non-violence was real
in so far as it went, and that masses of people
could act with great restraint in spite of their
nursing a grievance against them.
All compromise is based on give and take,
but there can be no give and take on funda-
mentals. Any compromise on fundamentals is a
surrender. For it is all give and no take. The
time for compromise can only come when both
are of one mind on fundamentals, i. e. when
the British Government have made up their
mind that not they but Indians will determine
the constitution under which the latter will be
governed. There is a dangerous snag in the
reluctance to refer the question of constitution
to an assembly of elected Indian representatives.
Minorities need have no fear, for they will
determine their own • safeguards through their
own representatives. The Princes z^ceJ have
none, for they need not come in, if tliey Jo
not wish to. The only party that can
effectively obstruct and does obstruct is the
dominating, z. e. the ruling, party. There will
be no compromise until that party has- sincerely
come to the conclusion that it cannot or
docs not want to rule.
Sevagram, 24-3-40
To Agents
The attention of the agents is drawn to the fact
that we do not accept cheques other than those drav/n
on banks in Poona and Bombay. In view of recent
complaints about loss of book post packets in transit,
we now take certificates of posting. In cases, there-
fore, of non-receipt agents may complain to their
post offices. Manager
CONTENTS Pac;k
Ramcakaii
M. D.
57
The Oi,d Game
Every Congress Committee
Pyarelal
('2
A Satyacraiia Committee
My Answer to
M. K. Gandhi
f4
Quaid-e-Azam
M. K. Gandhi
(.5
A Brave Statement
J. Narayan
fi5
Acharya Kripalani’s
Inaugural Address
f>7
A Judge Descends
M. K. Gandhi
6S
The Two Speeches
M. K- Gandhi
69
How TO Evoke the Best ...
M. K. Gandhi
72
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4
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Editor : MAHADEV DESAl
VoL. Vlir, No. 8 ] PCK)NA — SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Are You Not Moved?
Q. You have written about Shri Jaiprakash
Narayan. But are you not moved by his
sentence ? Is it not a call to arms ? Will
you even now wait till your impossible condi"
tions are fulfilled?
A. I fear I must wait till my conditions are
fulfilled. You should allow me to know more
than you of the way in which satyagraha
works. Of course I am moved by the sen-
tence pronounced against that brave co-worker.
I wish I could move you as I am moved. If
you were, you would silently and more persis-
tently spread the charkha cult by yourself
spinning full-heartedly and by taking its message
to your neighbours. Jaiprakash having gone to
jail, has had his reward. He had the inner
urge. He deserved the reward. Believe me
it will produce its own effect. If I become
impatient and resort to precipitate action, the
good done by Jaiprakash’s imprisonment is likely
to be undone partly or wholly. I will not be
party to producing an anarchical condition in
India, nor will any good purpose be served by
my inviting individuals to follow Jaiprakash’s
example and court imprisonment. This jail-
going in satyagraha does not admit of arith-
metical application. Only one person's going
may be most appropriate. Suffice it to say that
Jaiprakash's imprisonment is engaging my serious
attention. I wish all Congressmen would follow
with redoubled zeal the task set before them.
Constructive Work and C. D.
Q. You have tabooed power politics from
Gandhi Seva Sangh and similar institutions for
the sake of constructive work. Does this mean
that no workers engaged in these institutions
can take part in civil disobedience ? I am
afraid this water-tight division between civil
resistance and constructive work will result in
a crippling of the latter as no first-rate worker
would take to it by renouncing civil resistance.
A. Those who argue like you do not know
the value of constructive work. It is any day
superior to civil disobedience. Civil disobedience
without the backing of constructive effort is
neither civil nor non-violent. Those who do
constructive work merely for the sake of civil
disobedience look at things topsyturvy. At the
present moment all satyagrahis have to hold
themselves in readiness. But all may not Oe
called. A soldier in reserve is as good as one
on active duty. If the battle must come, I may
say at once that my present plan is to disturb
the constructive work as little as possible.
Your question, I take it, has reference to those
only who are working in organisations such
as the A. I. S. A., A. 1. V. I A., H. S. S.
and H. T. S. These will be as little disturbed
as possible. But all Congressmen without
exception, if they want to help the struggle,
must take up constructive work in their persons.
Khadi and Politics
Q. Are you not endangering the khadi move-
ment by identifying it with the political pro-
gramme, especially the civil disobedience part of it ?
A, Most certainly not. I would be, if khadi
was confined only to Congressmen or civil
resisters. Khadi is prescribed as national wear
for all, whether Congressmen or other. It is used
even by some Englishmen, Americans and other
Westerners. Your objection, if it was valid,
would apply even to communal unity, removal of
untouchability and temperance. These four have
gained importance and momentum since they
were incorporated in the Congress constructive
programme. They can all become illegal if they
become mixed up with violence. If they did
become illegal, it would be found that the
movements as such were not suppressed but
the organisations masquerading under innocent
labels were in reality covering violence.
Confusion of Thought
Q. You will be responsible for a gross injus-
tice if you persist in giving to India a majority
Government with only ‘ safeguards ’ for the
minorities. The latter ought to have an effective
part in the actual government of the country.
A. You have evidently confused majority
rule with Hindu rule implying that the Hindu
majority is irremovable. The fact is that the
majority in all the provinces is a mixed
majority. The parties are not Muslims and
Hindus; they are Congressmen, Independents,
Muslim Leaguers, Muslim Independents, Labour-
ites, etc. The Congress majority everywhere is
a mixed majority and could be better balanced
if there was no tension. The tension is a
distemper. A distemper can never be a per-
manent feature of any growing society which
India is. Whatever the outcome of the Muslim
League demonstration and its claim, some day
or other there will be a solution of the issues
74 HAEIJAN [ APRIL 6, 1940
raised. The outcome will never be pure Muslim
■or Hindu majorities in any single province. The
parties will be mixed and aligned according to
different policies, unless democracy is crushed
and autocracy reigns supreme in India as a
whole or India is vivisected into two or more
dead parts. If you have followed my argument,
it must be clear to you that there will never
be a denial of power to any party or group
so far as the Congress is concerned. Minorities
are entitled to full protection of their rights,
for so long as they have to divide power with
others, they run the risk of their special rights
being adulterated.
A Dilemma
Q. My father is an employee in the S. L Rail-
way. He has four children, all younger than I.
He wants me to take an apprenticeship course,
if I take part in the coming civil disobedience
struggle, he may be dismissed and the family
will starve. He says I can serve the nation by
doing my share of constructive work. What is
your advice?
A. Your father is right. If you are the
only bread-winner, you cannot leave ti'.e family
to its fate for the sake of taking pari in civil
disobedience. You will certainly serve the
nation quite as effectively as civil resistors if you
zealously carry out the constructive programme.
Vain Repetitions
Q. All agree that mechanical repetition of
prayers is worse than useless. It acts as an
opiate on the soul. I often wonder why you
encourage repetition morning and evening of the
eleven great vows as a matter of routine. May
not this have a dulling effect on the moral
consciousness of our boys? Is there no better
way of inculcating these vows?
A. Repetitions when they are not mechanical
produce marvellous results. Thus I do not regard
the rosary as a superstition. It is an aid to the
pacification of a wandering brain. Daily repeti-
tion of the vows falls under a different category.
It is a daily reminder to the earnest seeker as
he rises and retires that he is under the eleven
vows which are to regulate his conduct. No
doubt it will lose its effect if a person repeats
the vows mechanically under the delusion that
the mere repetition will bring him merit. You
may ask, “ Why repeat the vows at all ? You
know that you have taken them and are expected
to observe them/’ There is force in the argument.
But experience has shown that a deliberate
repetition gives stimulus to the resolution. Vows
arc to the weak mind and soul what tonics are
to a weak body. Just as a healthy body needs
no tonics, a strong mind may retain its health
without the need of vows and the daily
reminder thereof. An examination of the vows
will, however, show that most of us are weak
enough to need their assistance.
On Behalf of Disabled People
Q. You stand for the poor and helpless.
Would you not include the providing of at
least one daily meal to disabled beggars as an
item of the daily routine of a “ constructive
worker’? A large number of the former are
lepers. There is not a city in India of any note
without its quota of these hapless creatures.
Their condition is deserving of your pity and
consideration.
A. Valuable as this work undoubtedly is, it
cannot become part of the constructive pro-
gramme, It is not every form of social relief
that can be made part of the Congress construc-
tive programme. Such programme can only
cover that part, the omission of which would
make the attainment of Swaraj through non-
violence impossible. Who can deny that Hindu-
Muslim unity, removal of untouchability, temper-
ance, and the charkha are essential for achiev-
ing our object ? My answer, however, does not
mean that disabled humanity does not need any
attention. No man or woman, whether of the
Congress or not, can be worth much if he or
she neglects to do his or her part of social
service in the widest sense of the term.
Sevagram, 1-4-40
A CREDITABLE RECORD
The Gandhi Ashram at pLdupalayan:, Tiru-
chengodu ( Dt. Salem, South India ), which was
founded by Rajaji who nurtured it and made it
his own residence for a number of years, com-
pleted the fifteenth year of its existence at the
end of 1939, and the latest annual report for
1939 shows a record of creditable service
rendered to the villages round about. The
main activity of the Ashram has been khadi
production, and the following figures ( for
1939 ) of the volume of production and amounts
of wages disbursed speak for themselves:
Khadi production
lis.
80,475
Yarn „
lbs.
52,667
Khadi consumed
by spinners under
self-sufficiency
scheme
Rs.
15,100
Spinning wages
distributed
Rs.
35,685
Weaving „
»*
Rs.
16,494
Dhobis’ „
It
Rs.
1,355
Rs. 2,220 represented the loss met by the
Ashram in supplying improved implements to
spinners at half price. The khadi activity of
the Ashram covered 283 villages. 3,182 spinners
were on record, and their yearly earnings ranged
from Rs. 5 to Rs. 75, the variation being
accounted for by the difference in time devoted
to the work. The average annual earning of a
spinner was Rs. 11-4-0, a weaver Rs. 145-12-0,
and a dhobi Rs. 80 — the spinner and the dhobi
being part time workers. To many of the latter
the work served as a second string to the bow.
The figures of income may seem meagre to a
city-dweller, but in villages where income stands
at the low level of about Rs. 2 to 3, even this
is a substantial addition and may in some cases
even help to keep the wolf from the door.
The weaver weaving handspun yarn has an
advantage over his mill yarn weaving brother
in that, whereas the latter experiences great
HAEIJAN
April 6, 1940 ]
difficulty in finding a market for his finished
product, the former is freed from any such
worry, is provided with work all the year
round, and has to submit to no exploitation
by middlemeUc The sales of khadi effected
through the agency of the Ashram amounted
to Rs. 87,000 for the year.
The Ashram also runs at Tiruchengodu 4
schools for Harijans and also a hostel having
17 boarders. It has a free hospital where the
average daily attendance is 40 and on which
Rs, 1,866 were spent in the year under report.
The apiary work is well on the way of being
permanently established. An institution like this*
which has more than justified its existence,
should not be allowed to feel handicapped for
want of funds which should readily come forth
in the form of donations.
c. s.
THE BASIC EDUCATION COURT
The Basic Education Court in the recent
Exhibition at Ramgarh was very attractive and
certainly interesting for those who were at all
keen on the new scheme of education. The
presence of a class of a few dear little boys,
neatly clad in khadi shorts and shirts, zealously
spinning away on their taklis, added life to the
exhibits of yarn and the products from various
schools. This was the third exhibition of its
kind since the scheme came into being. It was
heartening to sense progress. The cloth produced
from this yarn should compete favourably with
similar quality material in A. I. S. A. bhandars.
Its sale need not then be a difficulty. Card-
board articles, I was glad to notice, were improv-
ing and due attention was being paid to pro-
duce only matketable things — files and boxes for
confectionery; the latter giving ample scope for
varying patterns and accurate measurements to
the pupils, should not become a burden to any
establishment. Then the Bihar bamboo and
" moos ” small carding bow which even a child
of six can manipulate has been perfected and its
gOosamer-like carding was a joy to behold. Its
cost is now two pice; hence it is possible for
each child to possess his own in class. New
products that deserve special mention were
“asans” made in Loni and Bihar schools from
waste yarn and the wood work of the Training
Centre, Wardha. The bread and fruit platters
made of seasoned wood were particularly charm-
ing in design and well polished and finished.
Then there were ladles of varying sizes, takii
and charkha winders, sliver makers, etc. etc.
Charts showed a definite improvement. They
were divided into economic, educational and
administrative spheres, showing results hitherto
achieved as well as possibilities for future
improvement. Those defining the correlation
between the craft and various subjects were
specially interesting.
The most original thing in the Court, how-
ever, were the pictures that decorated the walls.
They were the handiwork of a young arsist^
Shri Nihar Ranjan Chaudhuri, a pupil of Shri
Nandalal Bose. He spent three months in just
reading all the literature available about the
new scheme of education. After that he spent
days and weeks at a time in most of the
basic schools in the provinces watching and
and listening to both pupils and teachers. The
inner meaning of the scheme definitely inspired
him to the extent of enabling him to depict
its soul through the medium of his art. The
pictures portrayed four crafts, spinning, wood
work, cardboard and agriculture. The artist
also depicted four possible crafts which are
being tried in Kashmir and Allahabad, e. g.
paper-making, leather work, pottery and basket
weaving. The paintings show how the teacher
begins his task, how the tools should be handled,
how the pupils should sit or stand, how they
should be clad, how various postures help better
production, why accuracy must be adhered to,
how attractive and colourful the class rooms may
be, how neatness and order are a natural out-
come of a wise use of material and tools, how
patience is developed through correct correla-
tion between the brain and the hand, what joy
comes from seeing the result of the labour of
one’s hands, and how their task completely
absorbs both pupil and teacher. The details of
each craft were well mastered and the colouring
of the pictures was delicate and alive. Two which
portrayed excursions to river and countryside
were specially joyous. There was too a pictorial
forecast of the elevating effect of the new
education, the children being shown as model
citizens, free from the taint of separatism. The
artist has followed the Indo-Persian school of
art in all his* designs. The paintings were all
on handmade paper and mounted on khadi.
Indigenous colours were used throughout. The
pictures should constitute a good nucleus for
any Basic Education Centre or Museum.
Sevagram, 30-3-40 A. K.
Scholarships for Harijau Girls
Applications are invited from Harijan girls alt
over India ( including States ) for the Thakkar
Jayanti Scholarships for Higher Vocational Educa-
tion. Higher Vocational Education includes study of
the Fine Arts, Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery,,
Law, Engineering, Teachers’ Training, etc. In very
exceptional cases College Scholarships for Arts and
Science courses will be awarded to Harijan girls
from provinces and states where Harijans are educa-
tionally very backward. Such provinces and states will'
be Bihar, U. P., Delhi, Sind, Gujarat, Kaihiawad,
Mahakoshal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajputana, Central
India and Hyderabad States. The scholarships will
be awarded to Harijan girls studying in recognised
colleges, professional schools » or universities and
such other vocational institutions as may be approved
by the Sangh. Applications will have to be made to
the General Secretary, Harijan Sevak Sangh, Kings-
way, Delhi, on prescribed application forms which can
be had from the office of the Sangh before the
10th June 1940.
A. V. Thakkar
Delhi, 29-3-40 General Secretary
76 HARIJAN [APRIL 6, 1940
Apr. 6
1940
A BAFFLING SITUATION
(By M. K. Gandhi')
A question has been put to me: “Do you
intend to start general civil disobedience al-
though Qaid-i-Azam Jinnah has declared war
against Hindus and has got the Muslim League
to pass a resolution favouring vivisection of
India into two ? If you do, what becomes of
your formula that there is no Swaraj without
communal unity ? ’’
I admit that the step taken by the Muslim
League at Lahore creates a baffling situation.
But I do not regard it so baffling as to make
civil disobedience an impossibility. Supposing that
the Congress is reduced to a hopeless minority>
it will still be open to it, indeed it may be
its duty, to resort to civil disobedience. The
struggle will not be against the majority, it will
be against the foreign ruler. If the struggle
succeeds, the fruits thereof will be reaped as
well by the Congress as by the opposing majority.
Let me, however, say in parenthesis that, until
the conditions I have mentioned for starting
civil disobedience are fulfilled, civil disobedience
caimot be started in any case. In the present
instance there is nothing to prevent the impe-
rial rulers from declaring their will in unequi-
vocal terms that henceforth India will govern
herself according to her own will, not that of
the rulers as has happened hitherto. Neither
the Muslim League nor any other party can oppose
such a declaration. For the Muslims will be
entitled to dictate their own terms. Unless the
rest of India wishes to engage in internal fratri-
cide, the others will have to submit to Muslim
dictation if the Muslims will resort to it. I
know no non-violent method of compelling the
obedience of eight crores of Muslims to the will
of the rest of India, however powerful a majo-
rity the test may represent. The Muslims must
have the same right of self-determination that
the rest of India has. We are at present a
joint family. Any member may claim a division.
Thus, so far as I am concerned, my proposi-
tion that there is no Swaraj without communal
unity holds as good today as when I first
enunciated it in 1919.
But civil disobedience stands on a different
footing. It is open even to one single person
to offer it, if he feels the call. It will not be
offered for the Congress alone or for any
particular group. Whatever benefit accrues from
it will belong to the whole of India. The
injury, if there is any, will belong only to
the civil disobedience party.
But I do not believe that Muslims, when it
comes to a matter of actual decision, will ever
want vivisection. Their good sense will prevent
them. Their self-interest will deter them. Thei^^
religion will forbid the obvious suicide which
the partition would mean. The “ two nations *'
theory is an untruth. The vast majority of
Muslims of India are converts to Islam or are
descendants of converts. They did not become
a separate nation as soon as they became con-
verts. A Bengali Muslim speaks the same tongue
that a Bengali Hindu does, eats the same food,
has the same amusements as his Hindu neighbour.
They dress alike. I have often found it diffl-
cult to distinguish by outward sign between a
Bengali Hindu and a Bengali Muslim. The same
phenomenon is observable more or less in the
south among the poor who constitute the masses
of India. When 1 first met the late Sir Ali
Imam I did not know that he was not a Hindu.
His speech, his dress, his manners, his food
were the same as of the majority of the Hindus
in whose midst I found him. His name alone
betrayed him. Not even that with Qaid-i-Azam
Jinnah. For his name could be that of any
Hindu. When I first met him, I did not know
that he was a Muslim. I came to know his
religion when I had his full name given to me.
His nationality was written in his face and
manner. The reader will be surprised to know
that for days, if not months, I used to think of
the late Vithalbhai Patel as a Muslim as he
used to sport a beard and a Turkish cap. The
Hindu law of inheritance governs many Muslim
groups. Sir Mahomed Iqbal used to speak with
pride of his Brahmanical descent. Iqbal and
Kitchlew are names common to Hindus and
Muslims. Hindus and Muslims of India are not
two nations. Those whom God has made one,
man will never be able to divide.
And is Islam such an exclusive religion as
Qaid-i-Azam |would have it? Is there nothing
in common between Islam and Hinduism or any
other religion? Or is Islam merely an enemy
of Hinduism? Were the Ali Brothers and their
associates wrong when they hugged Hindus as
blood brothers and saw so much in common
between the two ? I am not now thinking of
individual Hindus who may have disillusioned
the Muslim friends. Qaid-i-Azam has, however,
raised a fundamental issue. This is his thesis :
“It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our
Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of
Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the
strict sense of the word, but are, in fact, different
and distinct social orders, and it is a ffieam that
the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common
nationality. This misconception of one Indian nation
has gone far beyond the limits and is the cause of
most of our troubles and will lead India to destruc-
tion if we fail to revise our notions in time.
The Hindus and Muslims have two different reli-
gious philosophies, social customs, literatures. They
neither intermarry, nor interdine together, and indeed,
they belong to two different civilisations which are
based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions.
Their aspects on life and of life are different. It
is quite clear that Hindus and Mussalmans derive
their inspiration from different sources of history.
They have different epics, their heroes are different »
April 6, 1940 ] HARIJAE"
77
and they have different episodes, "^^’ery often the
hero of one is a foe of the other andj likewise,
their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together
two such nations under a single state, one as a
numerical minority and the other as majority, must
lead to growing discontent and final destruction of
any fabric that may be so built up for the govern-
ment of such a state.”
He does not say some Hindis are bad; he
says Hindus as such have nothing in common
with Muslims. I make bold to say that he
and those who think like him are rendering no
service to Islam; they are misinterpreting the
message inherent in the very word Islam. I say
this because I feel deeply hurt over what is now
going on in the name of the Muslim League.
I should be failing in my duty, if I did not
warn the Muslims of India against the untruth
that is being propagated amongst them. This warn-
ing is a duty because I have faithfully served
them in their hour of need and because Hindu-
Muslim unity has been and is my life’s mission.
Sevagram, 1-4-40
Harijan Work in Indore
Shrimati Rameshwari Nehru who was invited
to preside at the recent celebration of “Harijan
Day” in Indore, sends a note about Harijan
work there. A summary is given below.
Harijan Day is celebrated on March 1st every
year since the Maharaja Sahib’s granting of civic
tights and allowing entrance to State temples to
Harijans. This year the occasion was marked by
the laying of the foundation stone of a sweepers’
colony for which Rs. 60000/- have been given by
the Maharaja Sahib from his privy purse. During
the course of a few months houses for 80 families
will be completed and it is hoped that this dona-
tion will be repeated until the housing problem of
sweepers of Indore City has been completely
solved. A humble beginning in the form of a
thrift and credit society and an Industrial Home
were inaugurated and a detailed programme of
work for this year drawn up. This includes the
•starting of a students’ hostel. The programme
was well received by the authorities of the
•State who were approached for financial help.
The President of the Harijan Sevak Sangh,
Indore, has moved a resolution in the Munici-
pal Committee, which it is hoped will soon be
adopted, to raise the pay of sweepers and make
their service permanent with the usual
maternity benefits, leave rules, provident fund
etc. Social service in the form of removal of
illiteracy ... 3500 Harijans were made literate ...
teaching lessons of thrift, clean living, avoidance
of debt, temperance etc, was carried on through-
out last year with the help of several young
caste Hindu men and women who received
certificates for their work on March 1st. A few
sweeper women joined the evening worship in
the Gopal Mandir in company with Caste
Hindus. The joy on their faces was good to behold.
It is to be hoped that the progress made will
be steadily maintained.
Sevagram, 31-3-40 A. K.
KHADI CAN
( By K* G. Mashruivala )
Is it possible to produce all the cloth we
need by hand-spinning and hand- weaving ? What
will it cost to the purchaser? With the held
of colleagues I am trying to answer these ques-
tions. In doing so, in order to be on the safest side,
I have taken the most conservative calculations.
For this reason I have taken the total popu-
lation of India to be 40 crores, and the average
annual need of cloth to be 18 square yards per
head. This works out at 720 crore yards per
year, or less than 2 crore yards per day. This
must then be the average daily production of
cloth for India’s total need.
It is also assumed that 80 per cent o£ the
total population (or 32 crores) is rural and
agricultural. Generally 40 per cent of the total
population is estimated to be fit for labour. In
India the estimate is perhaps more conservative
than necessary. For, in villages, men begin to
work for bread at a very early age and conti-
nue to do so almost till the end. Spinning and
some of its incidental operations safely allow
children and old men to be made use of. Still,
on account of the extremely ill-nourished condi-
tion of the villagers, their productive eflSciency
is much below normal, and so I have accepted
the estimate of 40 per cent. This gives us about
12J- crores as the labouring population.
In the production of khadi, the proportion of
spinners to other craftsmen (such as carders,
weavers, dyers, etc. ) varies according to the
methods and implements of production employed.
Shri Vinoba has been carrying on experiments
in this line. For conservative calculation I have
taken his figures. According to him, among 100
full-time khadi producers, there should be 55
spinners and 45 other craftsmen (ginners, cleaners,
carders, weavers, etc.), and they would produce
44 square yards of cloth per day. According to
the prevailing methods about 75 full-time spin-
ners would provide work to 25 weavers and
other craftsmen, and would produce about 60
yards of cloth per day of between 12 to 16
counts. ( A full-time spinner is estimated to
produce yarn equal to 4/5 of a sq. yd. )
Therefore, according to Shri Vinoba, for pio-
ducing 2 crore square yards per day, we require
2-5 crore full-time spinners and about 2 crores
of other textile craftsmen, or 4-5 crore full-time
khadi producers in all. In a populption of 12|
crores of rural workers, this figure, by itself, is
sufficient to dispel any doubt about India’s
capacity to produce her own cloth. According
to the other calculation, this figure would be
much smaller.
At present there are very few spinners and
other craftsmen working full time, i. c. eight
hours a day. Much of the khadi is produced
either during leisure hours all the year round or
during periods of unemployment. Some quantity
is also produced for home consumption, and
it is desirable that this habit should, for
78
HAEIJAN
[ April 6, 1940
the progress of khadi, be encouraged as much
as possible. It will, therefore, be safe to assume
that on an average in all processes up to spin-
ning, workers put in on an average only 3 hours’
work per day. On the simplest good village
charkha this amount of labour should enable a
spinner to produce on an average from to
hanks per day ( hank=840 yds. ). This works out
at 3 spinners per day for each square yard of
khadi. Therefore, to produce 2 crore yards per
day, we should need 6 crore spinners working
for 3 hours per day. Thus the whole khadi
production would engage 6 crores of part-time
workers and a crore of other full-time craftsmen,
or 7 crores in all.
There is no doubt that 7 crores of people
are available in India for this work, without
detriment to agriculture and to other occupa-
tions and industries. Not only so, but it leaves
a good margin for the expansion of this industry^
if more production were needed. For then it
could be made more remunerative than at
present, and improvements in implements, con-
sistent with rural conditions, could also be
introduced with greater confidence.
This brings us to the question of cost. Let
it be remembered that in the economics of khadi,
the question of cost affects by way of actual
out-of-pocket charges only those who cannot or
will not card and spin for themselves and their
dependants. On a very liberal calculation these
cannot be more than 6 crores in India.
They will have to purchase their khadi, and
a majority of them would be consuming more
cloth than the average of 18 yards per head.
A good part of it will also be of counts finer
than the average 12 to 14 counts assumed for
the rest of the country. It will not be wrong
to estimate their demand at 30 yards per head.
This means that it will be necessary to produce
180 crore yards of khadi for sale. This comes
to half a crore of yards per day, or 25 per cent
of the total cloth needed. As for the rest of
the people, they will have to do some labour
( at the most an hour per day ) without feeling
any actual saving in out-of-pocket charges.
The present A. L S. A, rate of spinning
works out to about f anna per hank, and yields
to a full-time spinner the wage of to 3 as.
per day with the present implements and rough
methods of work. To reach the standard mini-
mum living wage of eight annas per day, the
wage must be steadily raised up to 2 as, per
hank, along with training and the supply of
improved implements. The present average kbadi
costs at pre-war rates nearly 21 times more
than the mill cloth. Khadi of superior count
cost not less than 3 times, ( Since the war
the mill cloth has become more costly and
so the proportion is less than before, ) If
the wage is increased, it would be costlier
still, though on account of improvements, not
in proportion to the increment. If we leave
aside the A. I, S. A. rate and for the time being
content ourselves with giving such wage as
prevails in each season in each locality, the rate
would work out to at least half an anna per
hank. Even assuming that there is no change
in the cost of other factors of khadi production
and in the currency economy of the country,
this rate would make khadi only twice as costly
as mill cloth. Having regard to the fact that
the production of the cloth through charkha and.
hand-looms ensures better distribution of wealth
and consequently retention of wealth in the
villages and also reduces unemployment, it
must improve the purchasing power of the
people to a considerable extent. This means
that those who have to clothe themselves by
purchasing ready-made khadi will also, in return,
be in a better position to manufacture articles
needed by the khadi producer. Costlier khadi
will not, therefore, be to the disadvantage of the
middle class purchaser. On the contrary a graduat-
ed increase in the spinning wage as contem-
plated by the A. I. S. A. would be, in the long
run, still more advantageous from the national
point of view. Instead of investing huge sums of
money in dead engines, a moderate investment
in millions of living human engines rotting for
want of employment in villages, will be cheaper
and economical in terms of national accounting.
And then the improvement in the methods and
implements of producing khadi without giving
up its rural character will also be a great factor
in the reduction of cost. Every day new experi-
ments arc being made in these directions, and
there are great hopes of steady progress.
The rise in the price of cotton on account of
war brings to light another difference between
khadi and mill cloth. In the production of
khadi, more is spent on labour than on the raw
material. Consequently a rise in the price of the
raw material (without any change in the wages)
does not appreciably affect the price of khadi.
This is not so in mill cloth, which rises and falls
in price almost in the same proportion as raw
cotton. Of course there is also one more way to
reduce the price of khadi without reducing the
wage. That is through * a voluntary tax in
labour’ as suggested in the article so entitled in
Harijan of 20th January last.
The conclusion is that quantitatively it is quite
practicable to produce all the cloth we require,
without running the mills, that the problem of
high price will affect not more than 25% of the
population, that it is possible to mitigate that
factor in various ways partially if not fully; and
for the rest, the costliness will be more an
advantage than otherwise, and this, again, in the
long run and in an indirect manner be advan-
tageous even to the purchaser. It is also in the
interest of those interested in large scale industri-
alisation and mechanisaton to leave this industry
of the masses safe for them. It is likely that the
nation will be able to move with greater con-
fidence and less disturbances in some of the
other spheres of industrialisation.
APEIL 6, 1940] HARIJAN 79
SEVAGRAM KHADI YATRA
The khadi lovers of Wardha district have] been
holding an annual conference in the different
villages in the taluka for the last six years
under the inspiration and guidance of Shri
'Vinoba. The object of the conference is to
propagate khadi. It has been named Khadi Yatra
or pilgrimage. People generally come to the con-
ference trudging long distances on foot and live
there for two days the life of the village folk
in every respect. It is organised by the Gram
Seva Mandal, whose workers are scattered over
these villages, engaged in various constructive
activities. People from different villages invite
the khadi yatra to their village, and give every
possible help in a most willing and enthusiastic
manner. This year Shri gRadhakrishna Bajaj,
Secretary Gram Seva Mandal, came to Gandhi ji
with the suggestion thac the yatra might be
held in Sevagram, Gandhiji had no objection to
it, provided the villagers of Segaon — 'now called
Sevagram — wanted it. They did, and the yatra
was held on 30th and 31st March in open fields
of the village.
On the morning of the first day, the yatris took
out a prabhat pheri; on the second day, they
took part in village cleaning. Two hours in the
afternoon were devoted to community spinning.
Gandhiji addressed them after the evening prayers
on the 30th night. About 1,500 people had
gathered from the surrounding villages and the
Wardha town for the occasion. The audience
sat in darkness but for an electric bulb fitted
to the loud speaker battery. His speech was
preceded by the usual evening prayer of the
Ashram, The prayer includes a recitation of
the eleven vows. Taking his cue from it,
Gandhiji said:
“ Just now you recited the eleven vows as
part of your prayers. It is our formula for
gaining internal and external emancipation.
Working within its orbit success may appear
at times difficult, but there need be no despair,
if we have faith. The greater the difficulties,
the greater should be our faith. Even so, faith
is needed for the prosecution of the khadi
programme.
“ Although the people of Sevagram gave an
invitation and I agreed to the holding of the
yatra here, that does not mean that I consider
this place to be fit for the holding of such yatra.
My test would require a high percentage of
adoption of khadi. As ic is, perhaps, not more
than 20 per cent of the Sevagram folk wear
khadi. Those that do, have not adopted it
fully and with an understanding of all its
implications. The adoption of khadi with all its
implications means revolution in one’s life. It
means purity in its wide sense and a readiness
to lay down one’s life for the sake of the
country’s freedom. Do the people of Sevagram
come up to that test ? I am afraid not. I
confess the failure is partly mine. I have not
put forth sufficient effort to give them the
needed education. I would like you to hold the
next yatra in a place which comes at least
within a measurable distance of the ideal that
I have laid down.
“At Malikanda we reduced the size and scope
of the Gandhi Seva Sangh and turned it into an
institute for carrying out experimental research
into the principles for which the Sangh stands,
as for instance, truth, ahimsa, khadi, and their
interrelationship. I have said that there is a vital
connection between khadi and ahimsa. But I
have not fully proved it. My reason follows
my heart. Without the latter it would go
astray. Faith is the function of the heart. It
must be enforced by reason. The two are not
antagonistic as some think. The more intense
one’s faith is* the more it whets one’s reason.
And so, although my faith in khadi is daily
growing, I have not put my reason in cold
storage. I listen carefully to all adverse criticism
with an open and receptive mind, extract from it
what is worth extracting and reject the chaff, I am
always ready to correct my mistakes. A full
and candid admission of one’s mistake should
make one proof against its repetition. A full
realization of one’s mistake is also the highest
form of expiation. I would like all co-workers
to test with their reason all I say. When
faith becomes blind it dies. It is a drawback
in khadi work that many workers do not
apply their reason to their work. We must
find out why the progress in khadi is slow.
It may be that we have erred in detail, wc
may find that we have hereafter to place more
emphasis on self-spinning than on production
for sale. At one time I myself had suggested
the ideal of immediate introduction of a standard
wage of eight annas a day for the spinners.
But under the advice of experienced khadi
workers, we satisfied ourselves with three annas
standard wage for the time being, keeping the
higher figure before us as our goal. Even this
rise is phenomenal. Shall wc be able to sustain
this wage?
“Take now the political aspect. I have said
that we can get Swaraj through khadi. If you
have real faith in it, you will not rest till you
have proved it to the whole world by your
reason. The link between khadi economics, poli-
tics and sociology cannot depend on unreasoned
faith. The wheel is the one thing that can
become universal and replace the use of arms.
If the millions co-operate in plying the charkha
for the sake of their economic liberation, the
mere- fact will give them an invicible power
to achieve political independence. You must have
noticed how insistent I have become about
the fulfilment of the khadi ptogramme as a
condition precedent to the launching of civil
disobedience. If our preparation is complete, the
struggle may be rendered unnecessary. And if
it does become necessary, it will be invincible
and of a short duration. But if only a few
[ APRIL 6, 1940
3k )
HAEIJAN
i&ke to the chaskha, it becomes necessary
for them to sacrifice their all in order to
quicken the conscience of their compatriots
and the English rulers. The efficacy of their
sacrifice will depend upon the degree of their
purity and innocence. Mere wearing of khadi
without knowing its implications cannot help. For,
when it becomes the vogue even evil-doers will
wear it. Khadi like God’s sunshine and air is for
all alike, but all do not thereby become eligible
for satyagraha. Khadi, purity, and readiness to
3 acrifice oneself ate the three essentia! conditions
for a satyagrahi. The charfcha is the external
symbol. Without it your sacrifice will not be non-
violent. I have no cut and dry plan of fight
before me. I only know that I must be ready
for it unless I am a hypocrite or a fool.
“ Lastly, since the yatra has taken place here,
I suggest that you draw up a programme for
making the whole of the village of Sevagram
khadi-clad within a year. The experiment will
exercise your faith and your reason and may
give you the key for making khadi universal.”
Questions amd Answers
The khadi yatra was over at 5 p. m. on 31st
March, but as Gandhiji had agreed to answer
questions, if there were any, after the evening
prayer, many people stayed on for the night. Here
arc some of the questions with Gandhiji’s answers.
Q, Has takli been introduced into the basic
education scheme with the economic, i. e. self-
support, or the educative end in view,
A. Anything introduced in basic education
can only have one end in view, i. e. the edu-
cative. The object of basic education is the
physical, intellectual and moral development of
the children through the medium of a
craft. But I hold that any scheme which is
sound from the educative point of view and is
efficiently managed, is bound to be sound eco-
nomically, For instance, we can teach our
children to make clay toys that arc to be
destroyed afterwards. That too will develop
their intellect. But it will neglect a very
important moral principle, viz. that human
labour and material should never be used in a
wasteful or unproductive way. The emphasis
laid on the principle of spending every minute
of one’s life usefully is the best education for
citizenship and incidentally makes basic educa-
tion self-sufficient.
Q. How can khadi and spinning lead to Swaraj ?
A. If millions co-operate, it cannot but generate
tremendous strength which can be put to any
use one likes. The chaxkha provides the best
medium for such co-operation. It provides digni-
fied employment and food and clothing for
Daiidranarayan. This cannot but produce magg
consciousness and non-violent strength for gain-
ing Swaraj.
Q. Must one who takes to khadi tak? to
spinning as well?
A. From the economic point of view it is
enough to take to khadi. But if khadi is ic
be our weapon for winning Swaraj, spinning is
of equal necessity. Khadi gives us economic
self-sufficiency, whereas spinning links us with
the lowest paid labour. In militarised countries
everyone gives a certain time for military pur-
poses. Ours being a non-violent basis, everyone
should do sacrificial spinning for a minimum
period from year to year. Maulana Mohamed
Ali used to call the takli and the yarn oui
arms and ammunition for winning Svraraj. The
analogy is telling. j.s it too much for us to
give half an hour or one hour pec day cc
spinning as a measure of voluntary conscription?
I remember, at the beginning of the last w-ar
when I was in England I was given pyjama
suits to stitch for the soldiers. Many others
from the most aristocratic families including
some venerable old ladies and gentlemen wore
doing such work. We all finished our quota o£
work as we were required to. No one considered
it beneath bis or her dignity to do so. Towards
the end of the war far more work was given
by the whole nation. Yet no one complained.
I warn you that, although today I am askiag
you only to give half an hour or one hour per
day to spinning, I may have to be more
exacting as the situation develops.
Q. Should civil resister prisoners offer satya-
graha in order to get the permission to wc.il
khadi and spin regularly in jail?
A. A satyagrahi willingly submits to all j;ul
discipline. He never wishes to cmkirrass the
authorities. To insist on being alli'wcu to spin
in jail when you do not do so with religious
regularity outside, would he a species of vio-
lence. I would not recommend that course to
anybody although I can conceive of exceptional
cases. — Appa Patwardhan for instance — ■ who
might go to the extreme length in order to
secure that permission. We have not bemived
as ideal prisoners in the past. There has beer
violence and untruth in our actions. I do not
want that to be repeated. We may plead with
the jail authorities, I would be faced with a
dilemma if I were not allowed these facilities.
What I have said of spinning applies equally to
khadi.”
Sevagram, 2-4-40
s.
N.
CONTENTS
Page
Question Box
K.
Gandhi
73
A Creditable Record
c,
. S,
7't
The Basic Education O'Ukt
A.
K.
75
Baffling Situation
M.
K.
Gandhi
7f
Khadi Can ...
:.c.
Mashniwcil
a 77
Sevagram Khadi Yatr.v
S.
N.
7-t
Notes :
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VoL. Vlli, No. 9 ] POONA — SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1940 [ 1 ANNA 6 PIES
THE DEENABANDHU
I
When I saw C. F. A. — that is how many of
his friends referred to him, some called him
Charlie, and I latterly had come to address him
as Borodada, none of us who were nearest to
him ever referred to him as Dcenabandhu,
which name, however appropriate, never seemed
to stick to him — a few weeks ago at Calcutta
recovering from his first operation, I had a fear
that, though he had been restored to us, he was
not likely to be with us for long. And yet his
loss creates such a terrible void that it seems
impossible to reconcile oneself quite to the inevi-
table. A friend who writes to me a letter of
sympathy, knowing what the loss means to me,
says I must be feeling as though I had lost
my dear father. Quite true. But though I am
young enough to have been his son, and he
had a venerable beard, it was quite impossible to
regard him as a father. In fact it was impossible
to look up to him as an elder or anything else.
For he was friend to all — the oldest and the
youngest, the richest and the poorest, the
highest and the humblest. When he sat down
with my boy to read Kuhla Khan and mingled
his mirth with his own, when he sat down
with [Gandhiji to discuss Dominion Status or
Independence, or with Dr. John Mott to discuss
Gandhiji’s attitude to Christianity, there was in
him the same childlike innocence and simple
regard for truth. I remember vividly the early
morning when twentytwo years ago I was
introduced to him by Gandhiji. From that
moment his overflowing affection and friendli-
ness made it impossible to look up to him.
* * • *
When thirtysix years ago he decided to come
to India, there were friends who remonstrated
with him. He had won a triple First and was
a Cambridge Don. If he stayed at home, he
might one day be venerated as the seniormost
Professor of History in Cambridge, or if he
entered politics he might one day be Prime
Minister. He would not be moved from his
resolve, “India calls” were the two words he
uttered with such deep conviction that it silenced
all remonstrance. When two or three years ago
friends found that he was feeling the effects of
a none too robust health and approaching age,
they asked him to settle down in a quiet spot
in England and give more fruits of his pellucid
pen to the world, he said ‘no’, he could not
think of settling an? else but India. When
the surgeon who performed the two operations
on him suggested that he should go to England
or Europe and have the second operation there,
he resolutely said ‘no’. He knew that Shri
Ghanshyamdas Birla, who bore all the expenses
of his prolonged illness, would gladly bear those
of an air-flight and operation at ‘home’. But
how could he leave his real home? “Whatever
happens to me,” he said, “must happen here.”
I do not know an Englishman who loved India
more, and who has served India better. That was
not because of an emotional impulse — there
were perennial wells of emotion in him, but
nobody made the choice of his vocation out of
emotion — but because he knew India, went on
with the years knowing her and loving her more
and more, he knew the wrong that his country-
men had done to India, consciously or un-
consciously, and he had resolved to atone for it.
He was a tapasvi in the true sense of the term.
St * *
It was a triple atonement. The first was by
a conscious endeavour every day of his life to
wipe out the reproach of ‘ superiority ’ attach-
ing to Englishmen. The second was by .slaving
for India — the flood-stricken and the famine-
stricken and the earthquake-stricken at home, and
the oppressed Indian in South Africa and Kenya,
in Fiji and New Zealand, in Trinidad and
Tanganyika. The third was by opening the eyes
of his Missionary brethren to the rich spiritual
heritage of India, which they had ignored, mis-
understood and even misrepresented, and by
showing them the true way of Christ, I do not
know that he made any Christian convert, but
I know that he had won the hearts of millions,
and hundreds are shedding silent tears over the
loss of their guide, philosopher, and friend.
* * ♦
And he had the richest equipment for the
sacred mission of atonement he had undertaken.
He had ahimsa in a larger measure than most
people I have known. He had woven into his
life the principal attribute of the Bhakta of the
Gita — who paineth none, and who is pained
by none. The very mention of the Beatitudes
made him beam with serene joy, giving one the
impression that the joy was the reflection of
the inner light that comes from an observance
of them. I have not yet come across a better
exemplar of the Biblical proverb — a soft answer
turneth away wrath. All this gave him the
82
HARIJAN
[ April 13, 1940
Strength to bear the Cross that everyone must
bear who is on the strait and razor-edged
path of tapasya-
JS: * *
And don’t I know the terrible weight of that
Cross ? The proud regarded him as an outcaste,
the wise laughed behind his back saying he was
a simpleton full of sob-stuff. But his humility
and single-minded devotion to the cause would
never dismay him. He bore all insults, humilia-
tions, snubs, sarcasms with a smile. If Dr.
Grenfell of Labrador set a supreme example of
physical endurance that all servants of humanity
have to possess, C. F. A. set a supreme example
of mental endurance.
* ♦ *
But he was not a man easily to take a denial.
No task was too mean or humble for him. He
would run errands, take a note to the Viceroy,
or to an irate oflScial who was in no mood to
yield. But on most occasions he succeeded in
appealing to the human side of people and
worked wonders. In South Africa he worried
General Smuts time and again. When the Final
Agreement was about to be signed came a wire
to Gandhiji saying Kasturba was seriously ill.
But Gandhiji refused to go until the Agree-
ment was signed by General Smuts. Charlie
ran to Smuts who was deeply touched, signed
the Agreement, and released both to go to
Durban, At the time of the last Yeravda fast
of August 1933, he worried Sir Reginald Max-
well at all hours of the day and night until
the final release of Gandhiji. In 1932 during
the Premier’s Award Fast, he was now with
Lord Halifax, then with Sir Samuel Hoarc, then
with Mr. MacDonald, and saw that there was
not a moment’s delay in announcing the decision.
On countless other occasions he took upon him-
self the mission of peace and worked at it
without regard for the result. And I have seen
him not only running errands, but ready to do
the most tiresome clerical jobs like copying,
revising typescript, etc. ‘ His soul was like a
star, and on himself the lowliest tasks did lay.’
♦
Not that he did not err. He was very human
indeed and made plenty of mistakes, but no
one knew how to make better amends. He had
a kind of ‘will to believe’ which often landed
him in scrapes out of which he found it difl5cult
to extricate himself. He came across black-
mailers who sometimes found him an easy victim,
but he had the joy of Hugo’s Bishop who was
happy to have lost his candlesticks. ‘Better to
be deceived than to deceive,’ sings Kabir; ‘to be
deceived yields joy, to deceive is a sure source
of misery,’
II
On three or four occasions I saw him during
the convalescence before the fatal second opera-
tion. and every day, after the second operation,
for a few minutes every morning and evening.
On the first occasion when I met him after he
had emerged from the first operation, he said :
“Last night was a night of peace and bliss. Some-
how the Beatitudes which I like most did not
haunt me. What came upon my mind again and
again as a nevcr-to-be-effaccd memory were some
parts of the Gospel of St. John and the last
nineteen verses of the second Discourse of the
Bhagawadgita. They arc still there with me.
And oh, it was bliss to have Bapu here
yesterday.”
* :i; *
On the second occasion he said: “This has
been a miracle, this recovery. And yet how
we fret unnecessarily !” With the faith of one
who believed with the Apostle that ‘ the very
hairs of our head are all numbered ’, he said :
“Not one day more or one day less than He
feels it right that I should live. To know
this is a benediction.” And with this he
hugged me in a close embrace, muttered some
words I could not hear, and then said : “ Let us
today have the great Upanishad prayer; From
the unreal, lead me to the Real; from darkness,
lead me to Light; from death, lead me to
Immortality.”
* ♦ ♦
On the third occasion he said : “ Let me un-
burden myself of one or two things that have
been pressing on my mind. You know the little
doctor who has been so good to me. He wants
an autographed photograph of Bapu, and I have
promised it to him. You must remember to get
him that.” I asked for his name, but he did not
know. He asked me to call the nurse. She was
not quite sure, but she promised she would
find out. When she gave me the name, I had
to leave Calcutta, But I said: “ I shall see that
he gets it.” Then he said : “ And now there is
another thing. You know our friend gave me
Rs. — for Palestine work. I was to have gone
there. Twice I had very nearly gone, but could
not actually go, though I have been doing work
for the Jews off and on. Anyway the money
was unused, when as you know — approached
me with her troubles, and I gave her half
of it. Now there is a little money that I have
in the bank which can go to make good this
loss. Please explain this to our good friend and
tell him I can return the whole amount if he
so wishes, otherwise if he permits I can give
that small amount to my sisters. But ask Bapu
what he thinks. In any case do write to the
friend. I had no right to use his money as I
did, and it worries me.”
* * *
On the last occasion he was full of the
Ramgarh resolution, he said he knew that victory
was sure to come, and he began immediately
to discuss the European situation, but I stopped
him from exerting himself. Then he said: “I
have been thinking more and more of the Gita.
W^hat a capital idea it is — the one of man’s
eternal war with evil. There are wars on the
physical plane and we know them. But there
APRIL 13, 1940] HARIJAN 8^
are mightier wars on the spiritual plane which
we have to be unceasingly fighting.”
* *
One can thus see the atmosphere that he had
created around himself and the thoughts and
prayers that occupied his mind< On the day of
the second operation an hour before the ordeal
I saw him. I gave him Bapu’s and Rajkumari’s
messages and the prayers of us all. He beamed.
Then he smiled and said : “ They have shaven
off my beard and moustache. All clean gone!”
I said : ” You will remember that Gurudev also
had to lose his and was none the worse for it.”
Then he said : “Whatever happens to me,
Mahadev, don’t forget that little doctor. Bapu’s
autographed photograph for him !” If Socrates
would forget the cock he owed, then would
C. F. A. forget his debt to the doctor. I am
ashamed to say that I had not carried the
photograph with me, but now his debt shall be
paid. But he was already feeling the effect of
the medicine he had been given, and so he said :
“Now I go to sleep with my God.”
* ♦
Then every day I saw him with the Bishop
of Calcutta, but we rarely engaged him in a talk.
“It is a blessing to have you here,” he would say,
and just close his eyes, or sometimes he would ask
the Bishop to pray. He knew that a dear friend
Dr. Paton had, like me, gone from farther South
to be with him during the ordeal. He used to
see him with the Bishop and me, but had not
the strength to talk with him. So on the even-
ing before the last he called me and said: “I
hope to be better tomorrow and to be able to
talk to Paton. Tell him.” But it was not to be.
Those indeed were the last words I heard from
his lips, for on the last day he was in a semi-
conscious condition. But there were no groans
or signs of pain on his serene face which when
he slipped into the Eternal showed the stamp
of the ‘Peace that passeth all understanding’.
Ill
Though he tramped about like a wandering
Jew and was here, there and everywhere, he
found time for writing numerous books. As
early as 1908 he declared that “ few things have
pained me more than the false and one-sided
picture given of the Hindu religiom” by some
of the Missionaries, and accuses the Church in
India of “ an unChristian lack of sympathy
with what was good and noble.” ( North India —
Handbooks of English Church Expansion ) He
implores the Missionary to shed his ‘superiority’
and his ‘ Sahibhood ’, and tells them : As those
who desire to be one in heart and soul with
the people of the land, we must not expect or
even wish them to approximate to our standard
of living, but must continually expect and wish
ourselves to approximate to theirs.” “There is,”
he adds, “ a vernacular of thought and habit
and temper to be learnt as well as a vernacular
language.” But he still talks in this book of
“ rich additions to the Faith”. That phase did
not last long. Came the years of fruitful com-
panionship with the late Shri S. K. Rudra and
the Poet and Munshi Zakaullah. He studied
the Upanishads, left the Cambridge Mission,
and associated himself closely with the Poet’s
work. In a beautiful monograph on Munshi
Zakaullah he describes how he, a devout follower
of Christ, and the Munshi, a devout follower of
Muhammad, sat together from day to day adding
to each other’s spiritual treasure, but without
thought of either converting the other to his
faith.
In his What I Owe to ChrisU which may be
called his spiritual testament and which was
the ripe fruit of years of experience, he declares
his final faith :
** Such an intimate and devoted companionship
between a Christian Missionary and a Mussalman^
without the least thought of conversion, was by no
means common at that time. There might have
been some danger of misunderstanding on the part
of other Mussalmans. But Susil’s ( Rudra’s ) friend-
ship at this point stood me in good stead, for he
was well known all over Delhi as having no
sympathy with proselytising methods, and I too soon
came to share with him that character. Susil Rudra
and the leading Indian Christians in Delhi expressed
the strong opinion that silent influence carrying with
it the fragrance of a true Christian life .was worth
all the propagandist teaching in the world
* Charlie, * Susil would say to me, ‘ I find it difficult
sometimes to read St. Paul’s Epistles. He is like
you Englishmen — always trying to force someone to-
his own point of view and ‘compassing sea and land
to make one proselyte *. Christ Himself is free
from such forceful methods to obtain success. ”
The son of a Fundamentalist father, he had
started life by declaring that he could not
possibly believe in eternal punishment, and that
it was no longer possible for him to receive
the Holy Communion side by side with the
parents, and he ended up with the faith quoted
above, declared a few years ago.
* * *
In politics, too, he had had a dijEcult in-
heritance. His father held firmly to the view
of India as “a British possession” whose destiny
had been entrusted by Providence to the British..
“At times,” he confesses, “it became painfully
evident bow deep the fibres ( of this inherit-
ance) had gone, and how hard it was to eradi-
cate them completely.” But a few years in
India were enough to make him stand out for
full freedom from the foreign yoke. In his
book on Munshi Zakaullah, he summarises some
of the discussions he used to have with
the Munshiji. “Don’t you see,” he would say
to him, “ we have no intervening power in our
own country ? Does not the presence of an
intervening power in India only stir up greater
strife? Have not the two communities got ta
settle their own differences without the inter-
ference of an outside party ? ” Then he says ;
“I had very often spoken to him of the evils
AJLM
[_ x<l», iSW
I saw to be inherent in foreign rule; and 1 had
put forward very strongly the idea that India
should govern herself independently, and not to
be tied any longer by the strings of a Govern-
ment many thousands of miles away. This
anomaly of the foreign and distant administra-
tion had always seemed to me preposterous.”
But his outstanding contribution was an essay
on Independence wherein he made out a strong
plea for a declaration of Indian Independence.
He exclaims that it can brook not a moment’s
delay, and bases his thesis on two fundamental
maxims of Seeley in his Expansion of England.
“ Subjection for a long time to a foreign yoke
is one of the most potent causes of national
deterioration,” said Seeley. ” This is a terrible
fact of history to be faced,” said C. F. A, “Any
further remaining in a state of dependence within
the British Empire would appear to mean an in-
creasing measure of national deterioration. We
must therefore awake and shake ourselves free.’’
Then there is the second maxim which drives
us Indians on the horns of a dilemma : “ To
withdraw the British Government from a country
like India which is dependent on it, and which
we have made incapable of depending on any-
thing else, would be the most inexcusable of all
conceivable crimes, and might possibly cause the
most stupendous of all conceivable calamities.”
This, he declares, is a vicious circle — perpetual
dependence, perpetual subjection, perpetual depen-
dence! India must shake herself free, Gandhiji
had given the mantra, and complete non-co-
operation with the foreign rule in a non-violent
manner is the only remedy. “ The sentence about
subjection,” said C. F. A., “ought to be written
on the heart of every Indian with all the humi-
liation it implies. Until the humiliation is more
deeply felt, there is no hope” of the remedy
being applied.
It was the death of this unique friend of
India that Hindus, Mussalmans, Christians — Indian
and English — had assembled on the 5th of April
to mourn at the St. Paul’s Cathedral in Calcutta.
The servants and bearers and chauffeurs who
inquired daily about his health knew that it was
a friend of the poor who had passed away, and
they too shared the grief of the rest.
Sevagram, 8-4-40 M. D.
The Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Dasgupta
1384 pages. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32
pages. 219 illustrations. Price Rs. 5 cloth-bound;
Rs. 6 leather-bound. By V. P. P. Rs. 6 and Rs. 7
respectively. Published by Khadi Pratisthan, 15 College
Square, Calcutta. Available at (1) Harijan offic e —
Poona 4; (2) Harijan office — 81 Queen’s Road,
opp. Marine Lines Station, Bombay 2. “Every village
worker knowing English will make it a point to
possess a copy,” says Gandhiji. Several eminent
doctors have spoken highly of the book.
Educational Reconstruction
Price Rs, 1-4-0, Postage 3 As.
A True Friend oii the Poor
In the death of C, F. Andrews not only
England, not only India, but humanity has lost
a true son and servant. And yet his death is
a deliverance from pain and a fulfilment of his
mission on this earth. He will live through
those thousands who have enriched themselves by
personal contact or contact with his writings. In my
opipion Charlie Andrews was one of the great-
est and best of Englishmen. And because he
was a good son of England be became also a
son of India. And he did it all for the sake
of humanity and for his Lord and Master Jesus
Christ. I have not known a better man or a
better Christian than C. F. Andrews. India
bestowed on him the title of Deenabandhu. He
deserved it because he was a true friend of the
poor and downtrodden in all climes.
Sevagram, 5-4r-40 ( Statement to the press )
Andrews’ Legacy
Nobody probably knew Charlie Andrews as
well as I did. Gurudev was gum — master — to
him. When we met in South Africa, we simply
met as brothers and remained as such to the
end. There was no distance between us. It was
not a friendship between an Englishman and an
Indian. It was an unbreakable bond between two
seekers and servants. But I am not giving my
reminiscences of Andrews, sacred as they are.
I want Englishmen and Indians, whilst the
memory of the death of this servant of England
and India is still fresh, to give a thought to the
legacy he has left for us both. There is no
doubt about his love for England being equal
to that of the tallest of Englishmen, nor can
there be any doubt of his love for India being
equal to that of the tallest of Indians. He said
on his bed from which he was never to rise,
" Mohan, Swaraj is coming.” Both Englishmen
and Indians can make it come, if they will.
Andrews was no stranger to the present rulers
and most Englishmen whose opinion carries
weight. He was known to every politically-
minded Indian. At the present moment I do
not wish to think of English misdeeds. They
will be forgotten, but not one of the heroic
deeds of Andrews will be forgotten so long
as England and India live. If we really love
Andrews’ memory, we may not have hate in
us for Englishmen, of whom Andrews was among
the best and the noblest. It is possible, quite
possible, for the best Englishmen and the best
Indians to meet together and never to separate till
they have evolved a formula acceptable to both
The legacy left by Andrews is worth the effort.'
That is the thought that rules me whilst I con-
template the benign face of Andrews and what
innumerable deeds of love he performed so that
India may take her independent place among
the nations of the earth.
Sevagram, 9-4-40
April 13, 1940 3
HARIJAIT
85
How Not to Do It
Prof. Ranga is a co-worker whom I have had
the pleasure of knowing for a long time. He
is brave and good-natured, but he has the
knack of often saying things he ought not to
and doing wrong things at the wrong time.
He sent me a telegram when he had decided
to break the order of internment served upon
him. He knew that he was under discipline.
If he had left me the time, I should have
asked him to obey the order to confine him-
self to his place, Nidubrole. By compliance he
would have shown a fine spirit of discipline
and today he would be doing constructive work
in his place and earning the privilege of
joining the civil disobedience brigade. As it is,
in my opinion, he has harmed the cause and
done no good to himself or anybody. He has
harmed the cause by setting a bad example to
those who look up to him for guidance. If
1 could persuade him, I would certainly advise
him to inform the authorities that he had
committed a breach of internal discipline for
which he was sorry and that, if he was
discharged, he would gladly proceed to Nidubrole
and remain there till the order of internment
was withdrawn. I make bold to say that, if
he followed my advice, he would help me
and help the country’s cause.
Sevagram, 9-4-40 M. K. G.
CHAEKHA — SWAEAJ — AHIMSA
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A correspondent says now that civil dis-
obedience is in the air I must once more, even
at the risk of repeating myself, summarise in a
single article my argument showing that there
is a vital connection between the charkha,
Swaraj, and ahimsa. I gladly make the attempt.
The spinning wheel represents to me the
hope of the masses. The masses lost thdt
freedom, such as it was. with the loss of the
charkha. The charkha supplemented the agri-
culture of the villagers and gave it dignity. It
was the friend and solace of the widow. It
kept the villagers from idleness. For the charkha
included all the anterior and posterior industries
— ginning, carding, warping, sizing, dyeing and
weaving. These in their turn kept the village
carpenter and the blacksmith busy. The charkha
enabled the seven hundred thousand villages to
become self-contained. With the exit of the
charkha went the other village industries, such
as the oil press. Nothing took the place of
these industries. Therefore the villages were
drained of their varied occupations and their
creative talent and what little wealth these
brought them.
The analogy of the other countries in which
too village handicrafts were destroyed will not
serve tis because, whereas the villagers there
had some compensating advantages. India’s
villagers had practically none. The industrialised
countries of the West were exploiting other
nations. India is herself an exploited country.
Hence, if the villagers are to come into their
own, the most natural thing that suggests itself
is the revival of the charkha and all it means.
This revival cannot take place without an
army of selfless Indians of intelligence and
patriotism working with a single mind in the
villages to spread the message of the charkha
and bring a ray of hope and light into their
lustreless eyes. This is a mighty effort at co-
operation and adult education of the correct
type. It brings about a silent and sure revolu-
tion like the silent but sure and life-giving
revolution of the charkha.
Twenty years’ experience of charkha work has
convinced me of the correctness of the argu-
ment here advanced by me. The charkha has
served the poor Muslims and Hindus in almost
an equal measure. Nearly five crores of rupees
have been put into the pockets of these lakhs
of village artisans without fuss and tomtoming.
Hence I say without hesitation that the
charkha must lead us to Swaraj in terms of
the masses belonging tou. all faiths. The charkha
restores the villages to their rightful place and
abolishes distinctions between high and low.
But the charkha cannot bring Swaraj, in fact
it will not move, unless the nation has faith
in non-violence. It is not exciting enough.
Patriots yearning for freedom are apt to look
down upon the charkha. They will look in
vain to find it in history books. Lovers of
liberty are fired with the zeal to fight and
banish the foregin ruler. They impute all the
vices to him and see none in themselves. They
cite instances of countries having gained their
freedom through seas of blood. The charkha
devoid of violence seems an utterly tame affair.
In 1919 the lovers of the liberty of India
were introduced to non-violence as the only
and sure means to Swaraj and to the charkha
as a symbol of non-violence. The charkha found
its proud place on the national flag in 1921.
But non-violence had not gone deep into the
heart of India, and so the charkha never came
into its own. It will never come into its
own unless the vast body of Congressmen
develop a living faith in non-violence. When
they do so they will, without needing any argu-
ment, discover for themselves that there is no
other symbol of non-violence than the charkha.
and that without its universalisation there will
be no visible expression of non-violence. It is
common ground that without non-violence there
can be no non-violent disobedience. My argument
may be false, my data may be faulty. But holding
the views I do, let me proclaim that without
fulfilment of the conditions prescribed by me
I simply cannot declare civil disobedience.
Sevagram, 9-4-40
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. CNew Bdition) Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 7 As. Available at Harijan office-Poona 4 ,
and 67 & 81 Queen's Road, Bombay 2.
86
HAEIJAN
[ April 13, 1940
4-^dtijdn
1 Apr. IS
1940
ALL ON TRIAL
( By M, K. Gandhi )
** My immediate object in writing to you is to
draw your attention to the activities of the Khaksars.
What has taken place in Lahore is well known to
you. The Khaksar movement has been declared to
he an unlawful association. I enclose a synopsis of
the writings and speeches of Alama Mashriqui. They
must have been brought to your notice before. But
I have marked the portions which show that it is
a movement directly opposed to non-violence of
which you are an apostle. It is feared that the
ban may be removed. If that happens, we will
attribute it to what appears to us to be an im-
possible attitude adopted by the Congress — creating
deadlock in seven provinces out of eleven. The
British have no doubt from the very beginning adopted
the policy of divide and rule, but the policy adopted
by the Congress has contributed no less to the British
relying solely on the support of the Muslims. The
suppression of a violent movement like that of the
Khaksars falls within the special responsibilities of
the Governor under Section 52 ( 1 ) ( a ), but the
Governor may refrain from adopting such a course
for the simple reason that it may lead to liie
resignation of the present ministry and the addition
of an eighth province to the seven in wliich the
constitution has already been suspended. If the ban
is removed, Hindu and Sikh organisations will be
formed on the same lines as chat of the Khaksars.
The Akalis assembled at Attari the other day
resolved to enlist a lakh of men to the ranks of
their Dal If that plan materialises, there will be
bloodshed in the land. Can you remain a quiet and
inactive observer of the carnage which will be the
necessary result of these movements? What do you
propose to do to prevent such a catastrophe ? "
This is an extract from a letter from a well-
known Punjabi, He is right in surmising that
I must have received Khaksar literature. I am
not publishing what my correspondent has sent,
I am studying the papers and hope to be able
as soon as possible to give a resume of the
literature in my possession. There is no doubt
that it is a military and militant organisation.
No Government can allow private military
organisations to function without endangering
public peace. I am quite sure that the Punjab
Government will not permit the Khaksar orga-
nisation to be revived in its original form. I
quite agree with my correspondent that, if the
Khaksars are permitted to function as before,
the Sikhs and others will have to be treated
likewise. This cannot but lead to a clash.
My correspondent, however, suggests that, if
the ban is removed, “we will attribute it to
what appears to us to be an impossible attitude
adopted by the Congress — creating a deadlock in
seven provinces out of eleven.” I am unable to
subscribe to the view. The Congress resignations
had nothing to do with the communal tension.
They were an honourable protest against the
British Government making India a belligerent
country over the responsible heads of the eleven
provinces which were supposed to be auto-
nomous and resorting to other arbitrary acts
in connection with the war. The resignations
were the least and the mildest step the
Congress could have taken. But events have
justified the step on other grounds too. Com-
munal bitterness would have increased if the
Congress ministries had continued. So long as
the Congress retains its non-violent policy, it
cannot administer the affairs of the country
except with the willing consent of the vast
majority of the people. Mere majority through
the ballot box does not count. If [ have my
way with the Congress, I would not allow it
to hold power with the aid of the British
bayonet. I did not hesitate to express my dis-
sent publicly when the Congress ministers were
obliged to make use of the police and even the
military to suppress public violence. They were
bound to use them if they were to remain in
power. My point was that, having suppressed
violence as they were bound to, the Congress
might have made a public declaration that it
had not attained non-violent control over the
people and that therefore, consistently with its
policy, it should abdicate.
But I fear that in holding this view I am
in a minority of one. My non-violence is not
exhausted with the effort to displace the British
Government. Such non-violence would be poor
stuff, hardly deserving the name. Therefore, if
I can help it, there will be no Congress minis-
try without a substantial communal settlement.
I am quite clear that real independence is
impossible without a consistent non-violent
technique. I am equally clear that there i s
hope of India gaining real independence if the
Congress will refuse to compromise on it and
will adhere to the means and for so doing
dare to wander in the wilderness.
The Khaksar menace is no menace in itself.
As a symptom of a deeper disease it is a
portent. To bring into being rival organisations
is a simple thing, but it is no remedy. It
merely multiplies the evil. If I had my way,
I would ask the people to meet the Khak-
sar violence with non-violence. But from the
papers and the correspondence before me, I
observe that the people seek outside protection
against the danger, real or imaginary. That
means the consolidation of existing authority,
supplemented perhaps by private defensive
preparations. I am interested in neither.
I have not discussed the terrible toll of
deaths the Khaksars had to pay. My sympathies
ate .wholly with the bereaved families. I say
nothing about the shooting, A special tribunal
87
-Apeil 13, 1940 ] HABIJAK
is inquiring into the whole affair. If the tragedy
leads to a searching of hearts, whatever the
finding of the Committee, it will nit have been
enacted in vain.
Sevagram, 8-4-40
A HUMBLE TRIBUTE
Many tributes have been paid and will con-
tinue to be paid to the personal *cy and work
of Charlie Andrews. I had the privilege of
knowing him from my early years. His kindly
eyes and smile which were but an index of the
loving heart that beat within his breast will
always remain with those who came in contact
with him. It is rarely that one can say about
any person that he or she never spoke a harsh
word to or of anyone. But it is true of Charlie.
1 have seen him return from interviews with
officials where harsh words had been said to
him and about those whom he loved. But no
anger ever entered his heart, and he knocked
again and again at the doors of those who mis-
understood him, his overflowing love for India,
and the burning desire that his England should
do justice by her. Many instances come to my
mind of his kindness and generosity. Hundreds
of young men owe their education to his help.
On more than one occasion has he returned to
our house bereft of his coat and drenched
with rain because he felt that some poor hill-
man carrying a heavy load on his back needed
the garment more than he did. Money given
to him for something he needed himself has
often fulfilled another’s want. And always these
unselfish acts were performed with the utmost
joy. Tears would come to bis eyes when he
heard of oppression or injustice anywhere, and
his utter humility was one of his greatest
attractions.
With his unique career at Cambridge of which
University he was a triple first and his facile
pen, he was told by an eminent divine that he
was throwing away a brilliant future in the
Church of England by coming to India. “The
highest office here can be yours with your rare
gifts.” The simple answer given was “ India
calls”. And India never ceased to call him.
While he loved his own country with a rare
devotion, I always felt he was happiest in
Indian homes and how many that have loved
to have him and minister to him will miss one
who through all these years has been such a
loyal friend.
His death has left an aching void which it
will not be possible to fill. Rarely are English-
men able to identify themselves as he did with
those whose interests seemingly or from the
material point of view conflict with England’s. ,
Requiescat m pace> and may the fragrant
memory of a dedicated life enable us to give
ourselves in greater and greater measure for
the service of suffering humanity.
• Sevagram, 5-4-40 Amrit Kaur
A CHINESE VISITOR
All foreigners of note that visit India are
naturally drawn to Sevagram. Recently no one
has done more than Pandit Jawaharial to raise
the status of India in the eyes of the world.
And with his burning interest in world affairs
he never ceases to emphasise the necessity for
us, however immersed we may be in our own
struggle, to view the same in the light of a
larger struggle for a new order. By his visit
to China he has brought that land and its
problems very near to us. Many Chinese friends
have come and brought their message of good
will. The other day a devoted admirer of the
great Chinese leader Sun Yat Sen came to pay
his homage to Gandhiji, armed with a number
of pertinent questions.
“ Do you believe that the British, knowing
them as you do, will give you independence
without a fight ?” he commenced.
“ It all depends,” replied Gandhiji. “ I do not
think they would want to have a fight if they
were conscious of our strength. But today they
do not feel our strength.”
“ Have you any means other than civil dis-
obedience to enforce your will?”
“ Yes. If we had no internecine quarrels,
the British Government would not be able to
resist us. ”
” You are aware that in China we have paid
heavily for unity. V7e have had to suffer 25
years of civil war. Might not India have to
suffer the same horrors if the British withdrew?”
“ It is impossible to say definitely what will
happen. It is, how-ever, not necessary that there
should be internal w'ar, I imagine conditions in
China were different. The whole populace there
was fired with the spirit of revolt. Here we
in our seven hundred thousand villages do not
fly at each other’s throats. There are no sharp
divisions between us. But non-violence applied
to large masses of mankind is a new experiment
in the history of the world. I am buoyed up
by my faith in its efficacy; the millions may
not have caught that faith, and it may be that
civil war will be the price we have to pay
for our liberty. But if we win truly non-
violcntly against the British, I am sure there
will be no civil war.”
“After 25 years of civil war in China we
have now found one person to represent us in
our Generalissimo. Is it not possible that the
Indian people will need someone more martial
than you with your spiritual leadership?”
“ If there is civil war, it will have ' proved
my. bankruptcy. A militarist will then be the
need.”
“ In the event of Indian independence would
India develop along republican lines? Is demo-
cracy suited to the character of the Indian
people ? ”
“These are problematical questions and it is
difficult to say definitely one way or the other.
If we evolve non-violently, democracy will not
88
HARIJAN
only suit us but we shall represent the truest
democracy in the world.”
“If the British withdrew, could you protect
yourselves ?”
“ Yes, if both Hindus and Muslims evolve
non-violently. ”
“ Is it true to say that the majority of Indians
of the upper class do lip loyalty only to nation-
alism and in their heart of hearts want British
rule?”
“ I am of opinion that the vast majority does
not want British rule. They want freedom from
foreign domination,”
“ If the British withdrew, would you keep
any Englishmen here?”
“ Yes, if they will transfer their allegiance to
.us and if they will serve India with their great
ability, their technical knowledge and powers of
research. ”
“ Would you receive the help of a third
party to free you from your yoke ?
“ Never. We have to find ourselves through
our own inner strength, otherwise we must fall.
Any structure built with outside help must of
necessity be weak.”
“ The British are a bargaining nation, are
they not? Have you anything with which to
bargain with them ? ”
** Very little. And in any case I would not
bargain for my liberty.”
“Do you believe conscience can make a man
good ? ”
“ Yes, but it can make a coward of him too ! ”
“Can religion make a man moral?”
“ Yes, but it must be real religion, that which
inspires one from within with a spirit of love
and service.”
“ In China we used to think that communism
would never take any root, but it has now got
a definite hold. Can the same be said of India?”
“I may say that communists have not made
much headway yet in India, and I somehow
feel that the character of our people will not
easily lend itself to communist methods.”
“Is it true that an Indian is a Hindu or
a Muslim first and an Indian afterwards?”
“It is not true, generally speaking, though
neither will sell his religion for his country.”
“ Religion plays no part in our political life,”
said the Chinese friend, “and this applies to
Chinese Muslims too. Is India, likely to develop
more as an Eastern nation, or will- the bond with
the English be a difficult thing to get rid of ?
It seems to me that English modes of life and
thought have taken deep root here.”
“ You are right where cities . are concern-
ed. But you will find, if you were to go
there, that the villages, which are the real
India, are wholly untouched. All the same,
English ways and customs, their methods of
administration, language and thought have had a
devastating effect on so-called educated India.
And this cultural conquest may perhaps never
be wholly got rid of. “
[ APRIL 13 , 1940 ''
“ India is a nation of so many races. Do yons
think that should prove to be an obstacle to
unity ? ”
“ None whatever. ”
“It is strange how we and you have the
same problems, social and otherwise. ”
“ Yes, and that is why we are really so close
to each other — friends in distress.” And here
Gandhiji related, as he often loves to relate*
incidents from his vast experiences, how well
he knew the Chinese colony in South Africao
how he was their lawyer, what close contact he
had with them, how they became his comrades
in the fight for vindication of the rights of
Easterners there. He laughingly twitted the
Chinese friend of the proverbial “inscrutability”
of the Chinese as well as of the Japanese.
He told him how Sevagram Ashram had the
good fortune to have a Japanese monk
at the moment — “ quiet, disciplined, kind, but
with a characteristic reserve which does not
enable any of us to know his real mind. It
may be a good thing, it adds to his dignity*
it certainly adds to his peace of mind, and he
is untouched, unruffled, by domestic difficulties
and quarrels. I felt the same with the Chinese
friends in South Africa. I addressed them
hundreds of times, I made no distinction betweem
them and Indians, but I always felt that your
people had built a wall round themselves. You
are so highly cultured and perhaps, therefore,
artificial. Take your art” — and Gandhiji pointed
to a lovely picture of hand- woven silk, framed
and hanging on the wall, which the Chinese
mission of goodwill had given him recently — *
“ it is a work of beauty and joy, but that art
is inscrutable to me. But I do not mean this
in a .bad sense. I have trusted my Chinese
co-workers and they were loyal and I am much
drawn to China and the Chinese.”
“ May I ask one or two more important ques-
tions before leaving ? ” said the Chinese friends,.
“ Do you expect to sec India independent ? ”
“ Yes, of course,” came the reply in no un-
certain terms. “I 7m7U to see India free in my
lifetime. But God may not consider me fit
enough to see the dream of life fulfilled. Then
I shall quarrel, not with Him hut with myself.”
“ But without an array how can you ever
succeed ? ”
“Well, we have done so t’ f.ir. Wc are
nearing our goal without having fired a single
shot. It will be a miracle if wc succeed. But
there is nothing to make me doubt the efficacy
of the weapon of non-violence. Whether, how-
ever, we have the requisite degree of it within
us has yet to be proved.”
"Is there hatred against the British?”
“ Yes — alas — but if we remain non-violent,
hatred will die as everything does from disuse.”
"It is very hard for us to get rid of hatred
against Japan.”
“ Yes, it will take generations for you as
you are using violence against them. I do not
APEIL 13, 1940 1 HARIJAN 89
say that you should not have defended your-
selves violently, but under those circumstances
hatred cannot die.”
‘‘ Are the British easier to deal with than
any other people ? '*
‘“They are as easy, in terms of non-violence,
to deal with as anyone else. But not having
dealt with anyone else I cannot say from prac-
tical experience. All conquerors of India have
reacted to what is noble in Indian culture and
in Indian nature, the Muslims included, I
believe the Germans would have done likewise.
It may even be that the English reaction has
been less than what others’ may have been
because of their insularity and colour prejudice,”
If Gandhiji had the time, there would have
been more questions, but before getting into
the car the visitor said, “ My half hour has
been the fulfilment of a long chcrised dream,
I shall never forget it.”
Sevagram, 7-4-40 A. K«
QUESTION BOX
( By M., K. Gandhi )
A Domestic Difficulty
Q. You have rightly said that no one who
has not renounced untouchability in every shape
and form can take part in Satyagraha, Supposing
a Congressman’s wife does not share his convic-
tion in this regard and won’t let him bring
Harijans into his house, what should he do —
coerce his wife into conformity with his views,
renounce her, or renounce the Satyagraha
struggle ?
A. No occasion for coercing your wife. You
should let her go her way and you should go
yours. This would mean her having a separate
kitchen for herself and, if she likes, also a
separate room. Thus there is no question of
renouncing the struggle.
Teachers and Satyagraha
Q. What part should a teacher who has faith
in your constructive work play in the coming
struggle, that of an active Satyagrahi or a
passive Satyagrahi only ?
A. The data given by you are insufficient,
but from what you have given I can say that
you should play the passive part.
State Praja Mandals
Q. What is the duty, in the event of civil
disobedience, of members of Praja Mandals in
the States and the rest of the people of the
States ?
A, If civil disobedience is started by the
Congress, it will be as against the British
Government. The people of the States cannot
and ought not to offer any civil disobedience in
the States. Hence it follows that the Praja
Mandals will remain unaffected by the Congress
civil disobedience. But individuals of the States
can, if they wish, join the civil disobedience
campaign in British India, They can, therefore,
send in their names to the nearest Congress
committee outside their State.
The More Essentia!
Q. Which is the more essential requirement
in your mind for starting civil disobedience —
your inner urge which may make you fight
even single-handed, or the fulfilment of your
conditions by Congressmen? What will be the
position if they are prepared and you have not
felt the call?
A. There can be no inner urge if my con-
ditions are not fulfilled. It is possible that there
may be apparent fulfilment of conditions but
there may be no inner response in me. In such
a case I cannot declare civil disobedience; but
it will be open to the Congress to repudiate
me and declare civil disobedience independently
of me.
Mom-Congressmeni
Q. Will those who are not now either Con-
gress members or active Satyagrahis be asked
to join the movement ? If so, how ?
A. They should become Congress members
and have their names registered as Satyagrahis.
A. B. C. Classes
Q. Why should not all Satyagrahis ask to be
included in “ C ’ Class only ?
A. There is a great deal to be said in favour
of your suggestion.
Secrecy
Q. You should give your opinion clearly
about secrecy. During the last struggle there
was a great deal of secrecy to outwit the
authorities.
A. I am quite clear that secrecy does no
good to our cause. It certainly gave joy to
those who were able successfully to outwit
the police. Their cleverness was undoubted. But
Satyagraha is more than cleverness. Secrecy
takes away from its dignity. Satyagrahis have
no reason to have secret books or secret funds.
I am aware that my opinion has not found
favour among many co-workers. But I have seen
no reason to change it. I admit I was lukewarm
before. Experience has taught me that I should
have been firm.
Damage to Property
Q. You know that many Congressmen openly
preached that there was no violence in damaging
property, i. e. destroying rails, burning thanas
when they are not occupied, cutting telegraph
poles, burning post boxes, etc.
A. I have never been able to understand
this reasoning. It is pure violence. Satyagraha
is self-suffering and not inflicting suffering on
others. There is surely often more violence in
burning a man’s property than doing him
physical injury. Have not so-called Satyagrahis
preferred imprisonment to fines or confiscation
of their property ? Well has one of my critics
said that I have succeeded in teaching disruptive
disobedience till at last it has come home to
roost, but that I have signally failed in teaching
people the very difficult art of non-violence.
He has also said that in my haste I have put
the cart before the horse and therefore all my
90
HAEIJAN
talk of civil disobedience is folly if not worse,
I am not able to give a satisfactory reply to
this criticism. I am but a poor mortal. I
believe in my experiment and in my uttermost
sincerity. But it may be that the only fitting
epitaph after my death will be “ He tried but
signally failed.”
Sevagram, 7-4-40
TWO QUESTIONS FROM AMERICA
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A friend writing from America propounds the
following two questions:
“1. Granted that Satyagraha is capable of win-
ning India’s independences what are the chances
of its being accepted as a principle of State policy
in a free India? In other words, would a strong
and independent India rely on Satyagraha as a
method of self-preservation, or would it lapse back
to seeking refuge in the age-old institution of war,
however defensive its character? To restate the ques-
tion on the basis of a purely theoretic problem: Is
Satyagraha likely to be accepted only in an up“hill
battle, when the phenomenon of martyrdom is fully
effective, or is it also to be the instrument of a
sovereign authority which has neither the need nor
the scope of behaving on the principle of martyrdom?
2. Suppose a free India adopts Satyagraha as an
instrament of State policy, how would she defend
herself against probable aggression by another sove-
reign State? To restate the question on the basis
of a purely theoretic problem: What would be
the Satyagrahic action-patterns to meet the invading
army at the frontier ? What kind of resistance can
be offered the opponent before a common area of
action, such as the one now existing in India between
the Indian nationalists and the British Government,
is established ? Or should the Satyagrahis withhold
their action until after the opponent has taken over
the country ? ”
The questions are admittedly theoretical. They
are also premature for the reason that I have
not mastered the whole technique of non-violence.
The experiment is still in the making. It is
not even in its advanced stage. The nature of
the experiment requires one to be satisfied with
one step at a time. The distant scene is not
for him to see. Therefore my answers can only
be speculative.
In truth, as I have said before, now we are
not having unadulterated non-violence even in
our struggle to win independence.
As to the first question, I fear that the
chances of non-violence being accepted as a
principle of State policy are very slight, so far
as I can see at present. If India docs not accept
non-violence as her policy after winning inde-
pendence, the second question becomes superfluous.
But I may state my own individual view of
the potency of non-violence. I believe that a
State can be administered on a non-violent basis
if the vast majority of the people are non-
violent. So far as I know, India is the only
country which has a possibility of being such a
[ APRIL 13, 1940
State. I am conducting my experiment in that
faith. Supposing, therefore, that India attained in-
dependence through pure non-violence, India could
retain it too by the same means, A non-violent
man or society does not anticipate or provide
for attacks from without. On the contrary such,
a person or society firmly believes that nobody
is going to disturb them. If the worst happens,
there are two ways open to non-violence. To-
yield possession but non- cooperate with the
aggressor. Thus, supposing that a modern edition
of Nero descended upon India, the representatives
of the State will let him in but tell him that
he will get no assistance from the people. They
will prefer death to submission. The second
way would be non-violent resistance by the
people who have been trained in the non-violent
way. They would offer themselves unarmed as
fodder for the aggressor’s cannons. The- underly-
ing belief in either case is that even a Nero
is not devoid of a heart. The unexpected
spectacle of endless rows upon rows of men and
women simply dying rather than surrender to
the will of an aggressor must ultimately melt
him and his soldiery. Practically speaking there
will be probably no greater loss in men than if
forcible resistance was offered ; there will be no
expenditure in armaments and fortifications. The
non-violent training received by the people will
add inconceivably to their moral height. Such
men and women will have shown personal
bravery of a type far superior to that shown
in armed warfare. In each case the bravery
consists in dying, not in killing. Lastly, there is
no such thing as defeat in non-violent resistance.
That such a thing has not happened before is
no answer to my speculation. I have drawn
no impossible picture. Histoty is replete with
instances of individual non-violence of the type
I have mentioned. There is no warrant for
saying or thinking that a group of men and
women cannot by suflScient training act non-
violent ly as a group or nation. Indeed the sum
total of the experience of mankind is that men
somehow or other live on. From which fact I
infer that it is the law of love that rules
mankind. Had violence, i. e. hate, ruled us, we
should have become extinct long ago. And yet
the tragedy of it is that the so-called civilised
men and nations conduct themselves as if the
basis of society was violence. It gives me
ineffable joy to make experiments proving that
love is the supreme and only law of life. Much
evidence to the contrary cannot shake my faith*
Even the mixed non-violence of India has sup-*
ported it, 'But if it is not enough to convince
an unbeliever, it is enough to incline a friendly
critic to view it with favour.
Sevagram. 8-4-40
Gandhis Challenge to Christianity
By S. K. George Price Rs. 1-4-0 Postage 3 As.
extra
Available at ( 1 ) Harijan Office — Poona 4;
(2) Harijan Office ~ 67 & 81 Queen’s Road,
Bombay 2-
April 13, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
91
SPINNING WHEEL IN CHINA
The revival of handspinning and handweaving
in China under the stress of war has already
been alluded to in these columns. The January
number of the American magazine Asia contains
an article entitled “Tale of a Spinning Wheel”
by Lewis S. C. Smythe, which describes another
eflfort in the same direction. The writer is a
Westerner participating, at the invitation of
the Chinese Government, in the organization of
Industrial Cooperatives in China. He has been
a professor of sociology at the University of
Nanking (now removed to the interior terri-
tory of Chengtu) and has been granted leave
for the new work he has been called upon to
undertake. Many of the factories situated on
the west coast of China have been destroyed
by the Japanese invaders, and the Chinese have
to fall back upon hand production for many of
their urgent needs. A plan was thus made in
January 1939 for making army blankets by simple
hand methods. In course of his investigations
for a suitable spinning wheel which was the
first necessity in the new programme, the writer
chanced upon an improved model which had
been simplified by a Chinese by mounting the
spindle directly over the treadle wheel. Further
improvements were carried out in the structure
of the wheel to make it more efficient for
spinning the sort of woollen yarn needed for
blankets To make the required number of
blankets ( 150 thousand ) in time for the coming
winter 7,500 wheels and 750 handlooms were
needed. Further work in the direction is thus
.described :
*‘The local women soon learned that with the new
wheel it was easier to produce an even yarn ; greater
production could be secured; and for beginners the new
wheel was much easier to learn to operate. Expert
women workers can produce two catties of yarn per
•day. Consequently the local weaving union decided
to provide its fortythree weaving cooperatives with
the new type of wheel. Women living with their
families and others who register at the union office
will be supplied with the wheels on condition that they
•spin for the blanket programme. They will be trained
in the use of wheels on condition that each one
trains ten others. Later, some of these women will
be organized into spinning coops. Fifty men from
the weaving coops were trained also and are to
•supervise the spinning so that the work will be
kept up to standard.”
The aluminium required for making ‘ flyers ’
•( spindles ) is expected from the remnants of the
Japanese aircraft destroyed by the Chinese ! The
Japanese bombers have not yet been able to
penetrate the interior. Coastal cities and towns
have been laid waste but the far-off villages
still remain untouched. And it is here that the
revival of the handicraft economy is going on.
The women who spin and the men who weave
are scattered in countless villages beyond the attack
of Japanese bombers. The machine coop that makes
the new wheels is far out in the country on the
side of a hill. The carpenters and machinists who
turn the pile of logs and scrap iron, delivered by
boat, into humming spinning wheels have plenty of
air and sunshine* The strong brown backs of the
sawyers swing to the tune of^ ‘ We’ll beat the Japs
yet, well beat the Japs yet. * For C. I. C. has
taught them * a new way in which they can use
their skill and strength to help save their fellow
countrymen.”
Efforts are being made to devise anew or dupli-
cate some sort of small scale carding equipment
from English models. The new wheel is also
reported to produce better yarn from uncarded
wool than from machine-carded wool. Admittedly
this is an effort made necessary by war condi-
tions, and whether it will continue even in
peace times remains to be seen. Readers will
please not ask further questions about the wheel,
as it is impossible to get any more information
or to procure a wheel referred to here from
China. The importance of the activity lies for
us primarily in the example it provides us of
determined corporate effort in which even
women and children participate, inspired with a
desire to render some service to their country.
It also testifies to the fact that rural surround-
ings and rural handicrafts are proving the last
resort of an invaded nation. As the writer of
another article in the same issue of Asia says:
It is interesting that today, when China is facing
imperialist Japan with such determination, she is
reaching out into these districts, not with forts
and machine guns, but with the idea of bringing
together the various peoples by helping them in
industry, in education and health and in the
possession of more of the better things of life.
The industrial cooperative, instead of the desperately
maintained fort, is seen today to be the better way/'
And what missionary zeal inspires the volun-
teer men and women who tread the country-
side imparting to hundreds of their compatriots
the knowlegc of the new technique of spinning
and weaving ! Here is a description which bears
reproduction:
“ Our chief claim to fame on the way up was
the new-type spinning wheel which we carried,
around which would gather groups of interested
womenfolk. Spinning in this locality is done by
the oldest known method, and a machine which
enabled one person to spin two catties instead of
half a catty in one day was certainly some im-
provement. Weavers here, we found, also had the
oldest methods known. Two women stood at a
little distance from each other, with the warp around
their waists, and passed the shuttle through it by
hand. The result was not good, a loosely woven
article. Some of these people around Sungpan are
already receiving instruction in the use of both
the improved spinning wheel and the improved
loom. To them it is a real advance in
civilization, and their teacher is thrilled to be
able to^ impart the knowledge he acquired in an
orphans’ industrial class in Kwanhsien. He was a
lad from the Sungpan Valley whose people had lost
all in the earthquake. He had drifted to Kwanhsien,
and had been taken in charge by the authorities
and taught a trade. Filled with the missionary
spirit, he now tries to impart what he has learned,
and the audience is certainly appreciative.”
How much more intensive and widespread
endeavour do we need for the prosecution of a
programme which is with us not a mere war
measure but for some of us is also calculated
to form the basis of a new economic order
based on peace. C. S.
HARIJAJT
MY POSITION
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan has, in his criti-
cism of my reply to Qaid-e-Azam, put some
questions which I gladly answer. I must adhere
to my statement that I have never spoken to
anybody on the communal question as a Hindu,
I have no authority. Whenever I have spoken
to anybody I have spoken as a Congressman,
but often only as an individual. No Congress-
man, not even the President, can always speak
as a representative. Big things have always been
transacted on this planet by persons belonging
to diflferent organisations coming together and
talking informally in their non-representative
capacity. I fear that even the answer I am
about to give must be taken as representing
nobody but myself. In the present instance I
have reason to say that probably I do not
represent any single member of the Working
Committee. I am answering as a peace-
maker, as a friend (and may I say brother) of
the Mussaimans.
As a man of non-violence I cannot forcibly
resist the proposed partition if the Muslims of
India really insist upon it. But I can never be
a willing party to the vivisection. I would
em.ploy every non-violent means to prevent it.
For it means the undoing of centuries of work
done by numberless Hindus and Muslims to live
together as one nation. Partition means a patent
untruth. My whole soul rebels against the idea
that Hinduism and Islam represent two antago-
nistic cultures and doctrines. To assent to such
a doctrine is for me denial^ of God. For I
believe with my whole soul that the God of
the Quran is also the God of the Gita, and
that we are all, no matter by what name desig-
nated, children of the same God. I must rebel
against the idea that millions of Indians who
were Hindus the other day changed their
nationality on adopting Islam as their religion.
But that is my belief. I cannot thrust it
down the throats of the Muslims who think that
they are a diflSerent nation. I refuse, however,
to believe that the eight crores of Muslims will
say that they have nothing in common with
their Hindu and other brethren. Their mind can
only be known by a referendum duly made to
them on that clear issue. The contemplated
Constituent Assembly can easily decide the
question. Naturally on an issue such as this
there can. be no arbitration. It is purely and
simply a matter of self-determination. I know
of no other conclusive method of ascertaining
the mind of the eight crores of Muslims,
But the contemplated Constituent Assembly
will have the framing of a constitution as its
m ain function. It cannot do this until the
communal question is settled.
I still believe that there can be no Swaraj
by non-violent means without communal unity.
[ April 13, 1940
And eight crores of Muslims can certainly bar
the way to peaceful freedom.
If then I still talk of civil disobedience, it is
because I believe that the Muslim masses wane
freedom as much as the rest of the popuiacion
of this country. And assuming that they do
not, civil disobedience will be a powerful means
of educating public opinion whether Muslim,
Hindu or any other. It will also be an educa-
tion of world opinion. But I will not embark
upon it unless I am, as far as is humanly pos-
sible, sure that non-violence wil! be observed
both in spirit and in the letter. I hope the
Nawabzada has no difficulty in believing that
whatever is gained by civil disobedience will be
gained for all. When India gets the power fo
frame her own constitution, the Muslims will
surely have a decisive voice in shaping their
own future. It will not be, cannot be, decided
by the vote of the majority.
Lastly, I suggest to the Nawabzada that he
wrote in haste the lines about the President of
the Congress. For they are contrary to the
history of our own times. And he was equally
in haste in suggesting that “the sole objective
of the Congress under Mr. Gandhi’s fostering
care has been the revival of Hinduism and the
imposition of Hindu culture on a!! and sundry.’’'
My own objective is not the issue in the terri-
ble indictment. The objective of the Congress
is wholy political. Nothing is to be gained by
making statements that arc incapable of proof.
So far as my own objective is conccrpcd, my
life is an open book. I claim to represent nil
the cultures, for my religion, whatever it may
be called, demands the fulfilment of all cultures.
I am at home wherever I go, for [ regard all
religions with the same respect as my own.
Sevagram, 9-4-40
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CONTENTS
Page
The DiiENAHANDiia
M.
D.
HI
Chakkiia-Swaraj-Ai I imsa . . .
M. K.
Gandhi
85
All on Tkiai.
M. K.
Gandhi
S6
A Humble Tkibutk
A.
K.
37
A CU[NE«E V ISITOR
A.
iv.
87
Question Box
M. K.
Gandhi
89
Two Questions from
America
M. K.
Gandhi
9;-
Spinning Wheel in China ...
C.
S.
91
My Position
M. K.
Gandhi
9Z
Notes :
A True Friend of the
Poor
M.
K. G.
34
Andrews’ Legacy
M.
K. G.
S4
How Not to Do It
M.
K. G.
85
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Editor : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. Vni. No. 10 ] POONA — SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 1940 / [ ONE ANNA
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Danger of Delay
Q. You say you will not launch civil dis-
obedience till Congressmen are 'fully trained in
non-violence and disciplined. That is right. But
in the meantime the country is being bled
white. Increased railway fares, duty on sugar,
the reduction of sugarcane prices are only a
few instances -n point. Is it right to delay the
struggle till our best workers are picked off one
by one, and thus lose the fight without ‘striking
a blow’?
A. I can cite &r more telling instances than
you have given for justifying civil disobedience.
But civil disobedience is not being delayed for
want of justification. It is being delayed for
want of preparation. I should be a stupid
general if I began the fight in spite of my
knowledge that my resources are poor. If the
leaders are picked off by the Government with-
out just cause, it would mean an invitation to
the Congress to fight. I would not answer the
invitation if I were not ready. The leaders’
being picked off can do the country no harm.
For we know that disciplined jail-going is itself
a part of the struggle. Moreover, the imprison-
ment of leaders will test our strength as an
organisation. A non-violent organisation implies
the equal education and therefore equal fitness
of all units. That we have not arrived at that
stage shows our ignorance of the working of
non-violence.
Authorised and Unauthorised Strikes
Q. In your leading article of March 30, you
have hoped that passive Satyagrahis will not
interfere with the course of the struggle by
“ precipitating strikes of labourers”. There is
just this cryptic word ** precipitating ” and
nothing more. When I read it first, I did not
particularly notice it. But I had to do a lot
of explaining later. Unless a very careful reader
or trained to understand your way of thought
and expression, one is likely to go astray. One
may miss the force of the word “precipitating”
and understand it as if you frowned upon all
strikes of labourers.
With the recent Ahmedabad fight for a war
bonus, no one would be entitled to regard you
as an opponent of labourers’ strikes as such.
The strike in Ahmedabad was indeed averted,
but you had approved of it and the workers
realised their demands. The work in Ahmedabad
was done methodically. There was proper pre-
sentation and working out of labour’s demands,
completing of arbitration, full notice and ballot-
ing of the over hundred thousand votes on
the question of the strike. I believe that, if
after such methodical work a strike cannot be
averted, you will approve of it and only assure
yourself that there is no violence.
A. You are right. I consider myself to be
an expert in organised strikes. My first success-
ful attempt was made in South Africa under
most adverse circumstances. I improved the
technique in Ahmedabad. I do not claim to have
reached perfection. I know that strikes can be
made irresistible, I have discountenanced only
unauthorised strikes. The Congress has not gained
control over labour. Some Congressmen have.
Almost all the strike leaders have their own
methods. All of them are not non-violent. Some
are ruled by selfish considerations. Some others
are unscrupulous. What I, therefore, ask for is
at least passive, if not active, co-operation. I
shall not need strikes for the purpose of the
struggle. What shape mass civil disobedience
will take, if it ever comes, I cannot say. But I
can say what it will never do if I have any.
thing to do with it. I know that, if the Con-
gress had non-violent control over all labour in
India, the Congress could become far more power-
ful than it is today. That control will come
when the Congress has one policy about labour
and has enough workers to give effect to it,
Untouchability and Conversion
Q. If the object of the Congress in the liqui-
dation of untouchability is to give Harijans a
status of equality with the rest, is this not
achieved by their conversion to Islam ? Why
does the Independence Fledge allocate the pro-
gramme of the removal of untouchability to the
EUndus only? Does this not show that the
Congress is anxious to maintain a Hindu majo-
rity and therefore denies to the Mussalmans
their right of conversion?
A. Liquidation of untouchability cannot be
attained by the conversion of untouchables to
Islam or any other religion. For it is the so-
called Caste Hindu who has to rid himself of
the sin of untouchability. He can wash away
the stain only by doing justice, however tardy,
to the outcaste. You will thus see why Mus-
lims are not invited by the Congress to share
the burden with the Hindus. They have com-
mitted no sin against the untouchables. I can-
not prevent you from looking at a simple but
94
HAEIJAN
[ April 20, 1940
necessary social reform as a political dodge
to maintain a majority. Tens of thousands of
Hindus who are doing penance have no thought
of majority. All they want is to do justice
to those whom, under the guise of religion.
Caste Hindus have reduced to a state worse
than slavery. Lastly, you are hopelessly wrong
in suggesting that the Congress denies the right
to Muslims to convert ‘ untouchables The
Congress cannot prevent anybody from doing
conversion work. Whether you will exercise the
right in the right manner or wrong is for you
to consider.
Sevagram, 15-4-40
PRINCELY EXTRAVAGANZA
I
In the course of his speech at the recent
meeting of the Chamber of Princes, the Maha-
raja Saheb of Bikaner is reported to have said:
“ It has been alleged in Congress circles that the
Princes are an imperial creation, that they are
vassals of the Crown and have no status apart
from the Crown, that the question of the States is
a red herring drawn across the path of India’s
progress for imperialistic purposes, that the problem
of the States is a bogey raised by the British
Government...! may here be permitted to state that
many States, big as well as small, owe their
existence to the strong arm of their former Rulers
and that too before the establishment of the British
Empire in India. Their claims cannot be dismissed
in this airy fashion which ignores irrefutable histori-
cal facts... If one might point out in all friendliness,
it is British India which is the creation of the
British Government,
The allegation has also been made that the Princes
are unfriendly to the Congress. But that is not a
correct statement of the situation. It is the Con-
gress, however, which has of late shown active
hostility to the States, and some of its prominent
spokesmen have expressed the view that they do
not want the States in the Federation, and that
they would tear the treaties of the States as if
they were scraps of paper and even that they
would like to see the States done away with.”
Not an Imperial Creation?
Unfortunately, this kind of extravaganza has
become but too common of late in Princely
utterances. The description of the Constitutional
position of the Princes in relation to the Para-
mount Power as ‘vassalage’ or ‘subordinate co-
operation’, one may in all respect point out, is
not of Congress coining. It was laid down by
the duly appointed! representatives of the very
imperialist order to which, the Maharaja Saheb
of Bikaner has declared times without number,
the Princely order are proud to belong.
As for the other statement to which the
Maharaja Saheb took exception, viz. that the
Princes arc an imperial creation, the very defini-
tion of Indian States in the Government of India
Act of 1935 is significant. It runs:
“Indian State means any territory, not being part
of British India, which His Majesty recognises as
being such a State, whether described as a State^
an estate, a Jagir or otherwise.”
In other words, their status is made to depend
purely on “recognition by His Majesty'*. The
history of British relationship with Princely
India is littered with instances of States that
were made or unmade, of zamindaris being
elevated to chiefships and vice versa, by a breath
of the imperial power according to the shifting
needs of its policy. Take the case of the Tri-
butary Mahals of Orissa, 26 in number, which
collectively cover an area equal to that of an
Indian Province and affect the destinies of 46
lakhs of population. We have it on the highest
authority that “ there was nothing in the nature
of the connection of Government with the pro-
prietors that would preclude their being brought
under the ordinary jurisdiction of the courts if
it should ever be thought desirable,”’ when
they first came into relation with the British
Government in 1803-1804 on the cession
of Orissa by the Marathas. But in the Regu-
lations of 1805 all these States, except Baud,
Pal Lahara and Athamallik “ of which no
mention was made **, were exempted from the
Bengal Regulations “ on grounds of expediency
alone”. The process was repeated in C. P.
where “sound policy suggested the establish-
ment..,, of a succession of , Rajput chiefships as
barriers to the revival of Maratha soverciSnty which
the Peshwa had finally resigned in 1818. ” And
so, every part of this large tract, “ in which
civil and predatory war had obliterated all
political landmarks, was placed under some con-
stituted authority; and thus from the wreck
there emerged no less than 145 chiefships, which
arc now recognised and placed under the
Governor-General’s Agent in Central India.”®
In Kathiawad, after a prolonged controversy, in
which three members of the Government of
Bombay, including Sir Bartle Frcre, the then
Governor of Bombay, laid it down as their
considered and definite opinion that Kathiawad
was British territory, and the Government of
India, in their despatch dated 14th April 1864,
to the Secretary of State for India, recommended
that the matter might be referred for final
decision to law ofl&cers of the Crown, the
question was in the end decided arbi-
trarily. 212 States were newly created, leaving
aside 12 first and second class States which
formerly existed. The principle followed in
assigning a particular class to a particular chief
was the number of villages he possessed, his
income, and his other status. “ Even landhold-
ers possessing one or two entire villages were
placed in the sixth and seventh class.” It
appears in the course of time, of the newly
created 212 States, those of the lower classes
from fifth to seventh gradually disappeared
through a process of sub-division of their estates
7 Report of the Constitutional Position of the
States in Bihar and Orissa and the Central Pro*
vinces, By Mr. A. C. Lothian I. C. s. (1932), Para 28*
2 Lee Warner : Protected Princes of hidia, p. 108
Apsil 20, 1940]
HARIJAN
95
among their sons in succession and they were
reduced to mere peasantry. Some of them were
found absolutely incompetent to exercise their
powers, and they were all deprived of their
powers. [ Vide papers regarding Keating’s Classi-
fication and paper book Privy Council in Hem-
chand v. Sakarlal ( 1936 ), appeal cases, P. 237 ]
Now take the reverse. The total number of
States in The Imperial Gazetteer Vol. IV of
1907 is given as 693. But the list for 1925
contains only 562 States, the smaller figure
for 1925 being due chiefly to the reduction
of States from 148 to 89 in Central India
Agency, from 52 to nil in Burma, and from 26
to 1 in Assam. Even the powerful Rajas of
Jodhpur, Bharatpur, etc., we find, show a history
of variations in their status that are startling. ^
Further instances can be multiplied. It will
thus be seen that the statement that the Princes
are an imperial creation, is, in a very large
number of cases out of the total 562 that
comprise Princely India, literally and historically
true. But the statement is true in another sense
too. Pax Brittanica has deprived the States’
people of their “natural right to have capable
and vigorous rulers”. The system of rule obtain-
ing in the States today has neither the essential
qualities of autarchy nor the constitutional sanc-
tions of the popular system of government, but
is, sui generis, a by-product and mainstay of the
I^iperial system in India.
** Sirong Arm ” — an Illusioia
The Maharaja Saheb in his speech referred
to the “ strong arm ” of the ancestors of some
of the present rulers of the States big and small
to which, he contended, they owed their exist-,
cnce. Without wishing in the slightest way to
detract from the glory of the house of Bikaner
which is admittedly one of the most exalted in
Princely India, one may be permitted to cross
the t’s and dot the i’s of the Maharaja Saheb’s
statement. The first treaty between Bikaner and
the British Government was concluded on
March 9, 1818, the request for Treaty in 1908
being not granted. Under it the latter
“Engaged to protect the principality, while the
Maharaja and his successors agreed to act in sub-
ordiante co-operation with the British Government
and acknowledge its supremacy. By article 5 the
Maharaja and his successors agreed not to commit
aggression on anyone.
3. “ Even the powerful Rajas of Jaudhpur and.
Bharatpur etc. were called Zamindars by the Moghul
Government, down to the latest period, and we know^
the nature of their tenures. They were bound to
attend in succession on the person of the Emperor
at the head of a fixed quota of troops, their own
countries were and are still subdivided into the lands
of their military retainers or Thakores or the revenue
lands, on the same principle that prevailed under
the Hindu Government in the Empire at large. ”
( A Sterling : An Account Statistical, Geographical and
Hisiorical of Orissa proper or Cpttack. )
By article 7 the British Government undertook
to reduce to subjection the Thakores and other
inhabitants who had revolted and thrown off his
authority^ The Maharaja undertook to pay all the
costSo ( Italics mine )
In 1830 the British Resident had made prepara-
tions to send forces to Bikaner to assist the chief
in reducing the rebellious nobles. The chief was
however given to understand that he had no right
to call on the British Government for military aid
against his disaffected subjects at any future period.”
( Atchison’s -Treaties vol. Ill, p. 337 )
‘Tn 1871 discontent arose, the State was in debts,
and exactions of the Maharaja to increase the
revenue gave rise to acute unrest. The Thakore
left Bikaner and took refuge in British territory. A
British officer was deputed to make inquiries and
to adjust the difference between the Maharaja and
his nobles.
In 1883, the affairs of the State relapsed into
confusion, a resident Political Agent was appointed
to Bikaner, and the Maharaja was required to
conform to certain conditions so as to ensure to the
political officer the power, of removing the abuses
and of controlling the administration.” ( Ibid )
One wonders whether these cullings would be
included by the Maharaja Saheb under the
category of ‘irrefutable historical facts’ by which
he swears. Bus if they are any guide, it would
seem that the fortunes even of the illustrious
house of Bikaner have depended less on the
‘ strong arm ’ of its previous rulers than upon
the shifting exigencies of the Imperial policy.
As the Butler Committee’s report observed:
“ It is not in accordance with historical facts
that when the Indian States came into contact with
the British power they were independent. Some were
rescued, others were created by the British ...Through
paramountcy and paramountcy alone have grown up
those strong. ..relations... on which at all times the
States rely for their preservation through the genera-
tions that are to come. Through paramountcy is
pushed aside the danger of destruction and annexa-
tion.” ( Butler Committee s Report )
Sevagram, 8-4-40 Pyarelal
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By Satish Chandra Dasgupta
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worker knowing English will make it a point to
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doctors have spoken highly of the book. “The book”,
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ten thousand cases treated in the various institutions
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seven years, according to the lines indicated. ”
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96 HARIJAN [ April 20, 1940
Apr. 20
1940
DANGER SIGNAL
( By M. K, Gandhi )
The happenings in Ajmer are a danger signal,
if the facts received by me are correct. I have
no reason to doubt their accuracy. The facts are
these. There was a khadi exhibition held during
the National Week by known workers. The
promoters had arranged a series of lectures on
the importance of khadi and other village in-
dustries. The National Flag was hoisted as is
usual at these functions. The authorities served
a notice that a flag having been erected on the
rampart of the fort had caused annoyance to
some of His Majesty’s subjects and should be
hauled down within an hour. The promoters
claimed that the ground was under municipal
jurisdiction, and that they had authority from the
municipality to hold the exhibition. The protest
was of no avail. The flag was unceremoniously
hauled down by the police and addresses pro-
hibited. If the exhibition was held under the
permission of the municipality, the interference
with the flag was clearly illegal. Bat apart from
the illegality, the hauling down of the flag was
a highly provocative act. An insult such as
this can easily lead to unexpected results. I
suggest that the matter is one for the Central
authority to investigate. I hope that the Central
authority does not want to provoke a clash
which is highly likely if incidents like the
Ajmer one are repeated. It would be deplorable
if the non-intended happened.
The promoters telephoned to me for advice
immediately the incident happened. Contrary to
their expectations I advised the workers to
submit to the order. Ordinarily I would not
have a moment’s hesitation in advising disobe-
dience of such an order. I am the author of
the flag. It is dear ^ to me as life. But I do
not believe in flag waving. This flag represents
unity, non-violence, and identification through
the charkha of the highest with the lowliest
in the land. Any insult to the flag must leave
a deep scar on an Indian breast. But today
unity is lacking; the Muslim League has declar-
ed its hostility to the flag; those who honour
it do not accept the authoritative implications
of the flag. And the nation is preparing for a
vast struggle. In a situation such as this I
felt that the best course was to suppress the
impulse to answer the, insult. I felt that the
restraint would be a test of the discipline of
the workers in Ajmer, It would be a lesson
to all India in the non-violent technique, and
an opportunity for the Central authority to undo
what appears to have been a wanton interfer-
ence with the ordinary peaceful non-political
activity of the Congress. It should be remem-
bered that the exhibition had nothing what-
soever to do with the impending struggle. I
congratulate the workers on their prompt
compliance with my instructions. They have
strengthened the Congress by showing their
capacity for observing discipline,
Sevagram, 16-4-40
JAIPRAKASH’S PICTURE
( By M- K. Gandhi )
The following draft resolution was sent to
me by Shri Jaiprakash Narain. He asked me,
if I accepted his picture, to put it before
the Working Committee at Ramgarh.
“The Congress and the country are on the eve
of a great national upheaval. The final battle for
freedom is soon to be fought. This will happen
when the whole world is being shaken by mighty
forces of change. Out of the catastrophe of the
European War, thoughtful minds everywhere are
anxious to create a new world — a world based on
the co-operative goodwill of nations and men. At
such a time the Congress considers it necessary to
state definitely the ideals of freedom for wnich it
stands and for which it is soon to invite the
Indian people to undergo the uttermost sufferings*
The free Indian nation shall work for peace
between nations and total rejection of armaments
and for the method of peaceful settlement of
national disputes through some international authority
freely established. It will endeavour particularly to
live on the friendliest terms with its neighbours,
whether they be great powers or small nations, and
shall covet no foreign territory.
The law of the land will be based on the will of
the people freely expressed by them. The utlimate
basis of maintenance of order shall be the sanction
and concurrence of the people.
The free Indian State shall guarantee full indivi-
dual and civil liberty and cultural and religious
freedom, provided that there shall be no freedom to
overthrow by violence the constitution framed by
the Indian people through a Constituent Assembly.
The State shall not discriminate in any manner
between citizens of the nation. Every citizen shall
be guaranteed equal rights. All distinctions of birth
and privilege shall be abolished. There shall be no
titles emanating either from inherited social status
or the State.
The political and economic organisation of the State
shall be based on principles of social justice and
economic freedom. While this organisation shall
conduce to the satisfaction of the national require-
ments of every member of society, material satisfac-
tion shall not be its sole objective. It shall aim
at healthy living and the moral and intellectual
development of the individual. To this end to
secure social justice, the State shall endeavour to
promote small scale production carried on by
individual or co-operrtive effort for the equal benefit
of all concerned. All large scale collective production
shall be eventually brought under collective ownership
April 20 , 1940 ]
HAPJJAN
97
and control, and in this behalf the State shall
begin by nationalising heavy transport, shipping,
mining and the heavy industries. The textile industry
shall be progressively decentralised.
The life of the villages shall be reorganised and
the villages shall be made self-governing units, self-
sufhcient in as large a measure as possible. The
land laws of the country shall be drastically reformed
on the principle that land shall belong to the actual
cultivator alone, and that no cultivator shall have
more land than is necessary to support his family
on a fair standard of living. This will end the
various systems of landlordism on the one hand and
farm bondage on the other.
The State shall protect the interests of the classes,
but when these impinge upon the interests of those
who have been poor and downtrodden, it shall defend
the latter and thus restore the balance of social
justice.
In all State-owned and State-managed enterprises,
the workers shall be represented in the management
through their elected representatives and shall have
an equal share in it with the representatives of the
Government.
In the Indian States, there shall be complete
democratic government established and in accordance
with the principles of abolition of social distinction
and equality between citizens, there shall not be
any titular heads of the States in the persons of
Rajas and Nawabs.
This is the order which the Congress envisages
and which it shall work to establish. The Congress
firmly believes that this order shall bring happiness,
prosperity and freedom to the people of all races
and religions in India who together shall build on
these foundations a great and glorious nation.”
I liked it and read his letter and the draft
to the Working Committee. The Committee,
however, thought that the idea of having only
one resolution for the Ramgarh Congress should
be strictly adhered to, and that the original, as
framed at Patna, should not be tampered with.
The reasoning of the Committee was unexcep-
tionable, and the draft resolution was dropped
without any discussion on merits. I informed
Shri Jaiprakash of the result of my eflFort. He
wrote back suggesting that he would be satisfied
if I could do the next best thing, namely
publish it with full concurrence or such as
I could give it.
I have no diflEculty in complying with Shri
Jaiprakash’s wishes. As an ideal to be reduced
to practice as soon as possible after India comes
into her own, I endorse in general all except
one of the propositions enunciated by Shri
Jaiprakash.
I have claimed that I was a socialist long
before those I know in India had avowed their
creed. But my socialism was natural to me and
not adopted from any books. It came out of
my unshakable belief in non-violence. No man
could be actively non-violent and not rise
►against social injustice, no matter where it
occurred. Unfortunately Western socialists have.
so far as I know, believed in the necessity of
violence for enforcing socialistic doctrines.
I have always held that social justice, even
unto the least and the lowliest, is impossible
of attainment by force. I have further believed
that it is possible by proper training of the
lowliest by non-violent means to secure redress
of the wrongs suffered by them. That means is
non-violent non-cooperation. At times non-co-
operation becomes as much a duty as cooperation.
No one is bound to cooperate in one’s own
undoing or slavery. Freedom received through
the effort of others, however benevolent, cannot
be retained when such eflFort is withdrawn. In
other words, such freedom is not real freedom.
But the lowliest can feel its glow as soon as
they learn the art of attaining it through non-
violent non-cooperation.
It therefore gladdens me to find Shri JaU
prakash accepting, as I read his draft, non-
violence for the purpose of establishing the order
envisaged by him. I am quite sure that non-
violent non-cooperation can secure what violence
never can, and this by ultimate conversion of
the wrong-doers. We in India have never given
non-violence the trial it has deserved. The
marvel is that we have attained so much even
with our mixed non-violence.
Shri Jaiprakash’s propositions about land may
appear frightful. In reality they arc not. No
man should have more land than he needs for
dignified sustenance. Who can dispute the fact
that the grinding poverty of the masses is due
to their having no land that they can call
their own?
But it must be realised that the reform cannot
be rushed. If it is to be brought about by
non-violent means, it can only be done by edu-
cation both of the haves and the have-nots.
The former should be assured that there never
will be force used against them. The have-nots
must be educated to know that no one can
really compel them to do anything against their
will, and that they can secure their freedom by
learning the art of non-violence, i. e. self-suffer-
ing. If the end in view is to be achieved, the
education I have, adumbrated has to be com-
menced now. An atmosphere of mutual respect
and trust has to be established as the preli-
minary step. There can then be no violent
conflict between the classes and the masses.
Whilst, therefore, I have no diflEculty in
generally endorsing Shri Jaiprakash’s propositio a
in terms of non-violence, I cannot endorse his
proposition about the Princes. In law they are
independent. It is true that their independence
is not worth much, for it is guaranteed by a
stronger party. .But as against us they are able
to assert their independence. If we come into
our own through non-violent means, as is
implied in Shri Jaiprakash’s draft proposals, I
do not imagine a settlement in which the
Princes will have eflFaced themselves. Whatever
settlement is arrived at, the nation will have ta
98
HARIJAE
[ April 20, 1940
carry out in full. I can therefore only conceive
a settlement in which the big States will retain
their status. In one way this will be far
superior to what it is today; but in another it
will be limited so as to give the people of the
States the same right of self-government within
their States as the people of the other parts of
India will enjoy. They will have freedom of
speech, a free press and pure justice guaranteed to
them. Perhaps Shri Jaiprakash has no faith in the
Princes automatically surrendering their autocracy.
I have. First because they are just as good
human beings as we are, and secondly because of
my belief in the potency of genuine non-violence.
Let me conclude, therefore, by saying that the
Princes and all others will be true and amena-
ble when we have become true to ourselves, to
our faith, if we have it, and to the nation. At
present we are half-hearted. The way to free-
dom will never be found through half-hearted-
ness. Non-violence begins and ends by turning
the searchlight inward.
Sevagram, 14-4-40
C. F. A. — THE MAH
It was by his vigorous championship of the
student victims of the Lahore Martial Law
regime that I first came to know of him. I
was then a student going up for my Bachelor
of Arts degree, from the Government College
Lahore, and though students of our college
escaped the worst indignities of the Col, Frank
Johnson regime, what one saw around one was
enough to choke the soul of any patriotic
and self-respecting young man. What disappoint-
ed us students — and particularly me — most was
the supine attitude of some of the religious
leaders whom we had been taught to look up
to and the inglorious way in which they truckl-
ed to the irate commandant's demarche for the
rustication of a certain percentage of students
in certain colleges. The percentage was arbitra-
rily fixed and the required quota had to be
rusticated, guilt or no guilt. “ What sort of
God-fearingness is that,” we asked ourselves,
“ which does not even enable one to cast out
fear and stand up for right and justice against
oppression? Instead of sympathy, we got from
‘ wise heads * counsels of prudence only. We
were shunned and avoided as hot-heads
fespohsible for the country’s troubles. Those
were dark days indeed, and despair clutched at
the heart of aspiring youth.
It was then that Charlie Andrews’ voice was
heard, clear, ringing, strident, espousing their
cause and giving expression to their outraged
feelings. He personally came to Lahore to do
his bit for them,, and his residence became the
Mecca of all rusticated students. It was usual
in those days to compare the Jallianwalla Bagh
tragedy with the massacre of Glencoe, But that
did not satisfy Charlie Andrews’ historical sense.
“No. It is worse even than that,” he rejoined,
“considering the distance that humanity has
travelled since that remote Highland tragedy.”
It was a portent. For an Englishman who loved
his country it was too much to sit still over
his country's misdeeds.
That gave one the key to his entire persona-
lity. Charlie Andrews was, above all, a huma-
nitarian. a servant of God who had made the
whole world his family, and who recognised no
frontiers of colour, caste or creed. None deserved
better the title Deenabandhu which grateful
India affectionately gave him, in recognition of
his ceaseless labour of love for the sake of the
poor. The cry of the distressed never found
him unready. Ill-health never deterred him.
He was ready at a moment’s notice to proceed
to the ends of the earth in response to the
cry of humanity whether it was from China
or British Guiana, South Africa, Trinidad or
Fiji. In fact the more forlorn a cause the
greater was his sympathy for it. Like his master
Jesus Christ, he never hesitated to pitch him-
self against principalities and powers to champion
the cause of the weak and the oppressed. In
fact, he considered that to be the core of
Jesus Christ’s teaching, and identified the Christ’s
Kingdom of Heaven with the realization of his
utopia of social justice upon earth.
His Christianity was as wide as his humanity
and the scriptures of other faiths were to him
not less dear than that of his own. It was a
favourite saying of his that, but for his Indian
and non-Christian contacts, his own understand-
ing of Christ would have remained incomplete.
He literally followed Christ’s saying, “ Get you
no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
no wallet for your journey, neither two coats,
nor shoes, nor staff,” sometimes with romantic
results. The only occasion when as Gandhiji’s
cashier I entrusted him with a ten rupee note
to pay off his tongawalla, was when Gandhiji
was convalescing after his appendicitis operation
in the Sassoon Hospital, Poona. In the evening
Charlie Andrews returned and innocently told
me to pay off the tongawalla as the ten rupee
note had "slipped out’’ of his open pocket”!
I shall never forget the trouncing which I got
from Gandhiji when I reported the matter to
him. “ Could you not foresee,” he thundered,
"he would give it away to the next beggar, if
he did not lose it ? You might as well entrust
a foaby with cash.”
Miss Agatha Harrison, Charlie Andrews’ gift
to Gandhiji and India, who acted sometimes as
his' secretary, used to tell us ; " The first thing
I do, when he returns from India, is to empty
his pockets, lest important messages from friends
across should go to the laundry instead of their
proper destination. Charlie is a baby and needs
to be mothered I”
There it was, with all his depth and serious-
ness, his unmatched erudition and wide experi-
ence, he had the heart and innocence of a
child of seven and was
*' As the greatest only are
In his simplicity sublime."
April 20 , 1940 ]
HARIJAN
99
Yet with all the serious side of his nature ^
Deenabandhu was not devoid of humour. I shall
never forget how at the time of the Second
Indian Round Table Conference, during our stay
together at 88 Knightsbridge in London* he
once set the whole company of us roaring with
laughter as he recited with inimitable mimicry
his parody of the poem “ Hunting the Shark”,
substituting for “ thirtytwo boxes ” in the original
“ thirtytwo venerable Bishops”, Gandhi ji having
just had a meeting with the Bishops at Lambeth
Palace that day ; “Thirtytwo Bishops all carefully
packed, his name well written on each.” The
adventure in the improvisation, however, proved
to be still-born, because, as often happened in
C. F. A.’s own case, the keys of the boxes were
all left behind!
One of the last meetings that I had with
him was in Gandhiji's company as he lay on
his sick-bed in the Presidency Hospital, Calcutta.
Again and again in the course of his talk he
reverted to the “ inner universe”, in which he
had, during his illness, found ineflfable peace.
**As the outer senses become attenuated, this
inner universe unfolds itself to you. Although
it is invisible, it is real, and embraces man s
entire existence. Just now, when the whole
world seems to be rushing headlong to its doom,
the need has become all the greater to renovate
our soul by the rediscovery of and plunge into
this inner universe, ” he remarked to Gandhiji.
As the time to take leave drew near, he grew
more and more restless and several times anxi-
ously inquired whether his ward-sweeper had
returned. We could not at first understand the
reason for his anxiety, till I suddenly remem-
bered how during Gandhiji’s 21 days’ fast for
Hindu-Muslim unity at Delhi, he had brought
to Gandhiji, by special appointment, the sweeper
of “ Dilkhush ” ( the name of Rai Bahadur
Sultan Singh’s bungalow, at the Ridge where
Gandhiji was staying). He afterwards recorded
in his poetical style in Young India the ineflfa-
ble joy of the poor man at the darshan, which
the curious can still read with benefit. It was
so characteristic of Deenabandhu, even in extremist
to be thinking of the “ poor, the lowliest and
the lost”.
Sevagram. 9-4-40 Pyarelal
Jaipur State and Praja Mandal
At last a settlement has been reached between
the State and the Praja Mandal in Jaipur. The
credit for this happy consummation belongs both
to the authorities and Sheth Jamnalalji. Let us
hope that the settlement will lead to cordial
relations between the authorities and the Praja
Mandal, and that the co-operation will result
in progressive betterment of the people of the
State in every respect. For this the State will
have to show toleration and the Mandal res-
traint in all its doings and utterances.
Sevagram, 14-4-40 M, K. G.
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 7 As. Available at Harijan oflBice-Poona 4 ,
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RASHTRABHASHA ADHYAPAN
MANDIR, WARDHA
The Rashtrabhasha Adhyapan Mandir of Wardha
has been training Pracharaks for the various non-
Hindi Provinces for the last three years. Young
men from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bombay, Sindh,
Assam, Bengal and Orissa have been sent to their
respective Provinces after a study in the national
language. So far 31 Pracharaks have been trained in
Hindi Adhyapan Mandir and each and every one of
them has got employed in his province.
When the Adhyapan Mandir, Wardha, was started
three years back, there was no other arrangement
in the non-Hindi provinces for the training of
Pracharaks. But now several provinces have started
their own Adhyapan Mandirs. Consequently the
Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha, has decided
to re-organize the Wardha Adhyapan Mandir. This
Mandir will now not train ordinary teachers. On
the other hand, it will be a nucleus of higher study
in Hindi or Hindustani for the non-Hindi provinces.
15 candidates will be selected for the next session
and ten of them will be awarded a monthly stipend
of Rs. 10 each. Only those candidates will be
selected who have passed either the ‘ Kovid '
examination of the Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti,
Wardha, or the ‘ Visharad * examination of the Hindi
Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad.
The aim of the Rashtrabhasha movement is not
merely to teach a new language, but to strengthen
the bonds of unity between the various provinces of
India. We hope, therefore, that only those who
realize the importance and usefulness of the move-
ment and who are fired with a desire to serve their
country, will apply for admission. The candidates
should have also attained general education up to the
Intermediate standard.
The new session will begin from the 15th June,
1940. All applications should reach the office of the
Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha, by the 15th
May. Printed application forms can be had free from
the Superintendent, Rashtrabhasha Adhyapan Mandir,
Wardha.
Shrimannarayan Agrawal
Secretary, Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha.
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HARIJAN
[ Apeil 20, 1940
REPRESSION IN JODHPUR
( By M. K, Gandhi )
News about repression in Jodhpur is disquiet-
ing. The Jodhpur Lok Parishad, which according
to the information in my possession has been
before now held in respect by the local authori-
ties, has suddenly been declared illegal. Several
prominent workers are under detention without
trial. Speeches and processions arc banned.
What is worse is the speech delivered by the
Maharaja Bahadur, justifying the order. It reads
as if a mountain was in labour. The following
are extracts from the report of the speech :
Unfortunately there is a small but vocal
minority, who, by their deeds and actions, have
recently given ample proof of their determination to
find fault with everything which the Government do,
and of their intention to hinder and embarrass the
Government by all possible means unless the reins
of Government are placed in their own inexperienced
hands.
I refer in particular to a political organisation,
which has brought itself to undesirable prominence
under the title of ' Lok Parishad Members of the
Lok Parishad ’ have recently become increasingly
violent in their denunciations of all established order
and traditions. The members of this party ask us
to believe that the sole panacea for the many
diverse afflictions, which we in common with all
communities suffer, is to vote for and place our-
selves unreservedly in the hands of the ‘ Lok
Parishad*. We are asked to believe that with the
advent to power of the ‘ Lok Parishad * there will
be created a new heaven and a new earth, and I,
the M&haraja of Jodhpur, am desired to place the
destinies of my house and my people in the hands
of the ‘ Lok Parishad ’ in order that peace may
reign, and 'freedom’ be enjoyed by all.
This is indeed a tall order and a bold demand,
and I am not surprised that requests have poured
in to me from the great sane and sober-minded
majority of my subjects to put a stop to these
extravagances and pretensions. If the ‘Lok Pari-
afaad* consisted of men of political and administra-
tive experience? men of ripe education, or of high
professional attainments, we might be well advised to
give to their words and expressions that serious consi-
deration which thoughtful citizens would undoubtedly
accord. But we find, now that an insistent clamour
focusses our attention on the subject, that the* Lok
groundless political agitation to grow and spread it:
my State in time of war; nor am I prepared an>
longer to allow an open campaign of subversive
agitation manifestly designed to encourage our peasan-
try to revolt and to corrupt our youth.”
It seems that the voice is the Maharaja’s but
the hand that has prepared it is not his. The
speech consists of palpable exaggerations. The
Parishad has more than 30 branches in the
State and has many experienced men as mem-
bers. I have seen correspondence in which their
co-operation has been desired and sought for.
The Lok Parishad has never put forth the
claim attributed to it m the quotations. It has
responsible government within the State as its
goal. It has carried on agitation in the recog-
nised manner. I suggest that it is highly undigni-
fied for the advisers of the Maharaja to put
into his mouth words that have no correlation
to facts. They have not hesitated even to drag
the war and the ‘alliance’ with Britain to justify
the high-handed action adopted towards the
Parishad. The Parishad, I am sure, will come
out unscathed, if the workers can stand the
test of self-suffering. Those who are imprison-
ed will be the salt and saviours of Jodhpur,
for they will be trusted by the people as their
real servants. It is not right for the Princes
and their advisers to ignore the time spirit and to
resort to such statements and acts as cannot
stand impartial scrutiny. I see from their leaflet
that the Parishad have asked for an open. trial.
They deny all the charges that are mentioned
in the Maharaja’s speech. The least that is
owing to the public is proof of the indictment
against the Parishad. Meanwhile and whether the
Parishad gets justice or not, I hope that its
members will peacefully and bravely stand the
sufferings that may be inflicted on them.
Sevagram, 16-4-40
Books by C. F. Andrews
The True India — A Plea for Understanding.
Rs. 2-10-0 + 4 As. Postage,
Mahatma Gandhi's Es. 2-10-0 + 5 As. Postage.
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Rs. 1-4-0 + 4 As. Postage.
Available at ( 1 ) Harijan Office - Poona 4 ; ( 2 )
Harijan Office- 81 Queens Road, opp. Marine Lines
Parishad’ consists mainly of inexperienced young Station, Bombay 2.
men, who do not appear to have achieved much
CONTENTS
. , . . — — X jU/i
success m their various vocations.... Question Box
They show no sign whatever of any co-operative Extravagan2A-I
spirit; rather do they seem bent on findins fault P^^ger Signal
.W. I, i, posabl. to do to. In their <L ftee mT
speech has desesmted into hcenee, and this at a Rashtkabhasha Adhyapan
time when a terrible war threatens in the distance Mandir, Wardha
and a very bad famine is at our doors..., Repres6ION in Jodhpur
I do not consider it consistent with mv duhr pie „
a loyal ally of the British Government, to allo^ a ^""MANDAf’’’"
M. K. Gandhi 93
Pyarelal 94
M. K, Gandhi 96
M, K. Gandhi 96
Pyarelal 9S
S. Agrawal 99
M. K. Gandhi 100
M, K. G.
915/1 Fergus8oa'c^e~]^l>oona 4-
one year. Rs. 4. 8a monthe, Re. 2-8. Fomigr ; One year. Be. 5-8 or, 8 ah. dr 2 $.
Reg, No. B 3092
Editor : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. vm. No. 11 1 POONA — SATURDAY, APRIL 27. 1940 [ ONE ANNA
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Beef
Q. The Muslim public need to be satisfied
on a very important question. Will the Muslims
be allowed to cat their national food — beef — ■
under a Hindu majority Government? If you
can satisfy the Muslims on this all-important
question, a great deal of knots will be solved.
You should give a straight answer to this
question in your paper Harijan.
A. I do not know how this question arises.
For whilst Qingressmen were in office they are
not known to have interfered with the practice
of beef-eating by Muslims. The question is also
badly conceived. There is no such thing as a
Hindu majority Government. If a free India is
to live at peace with herself, religious divisions
must entirely give place to political divisions
based on considerations other than religious. Even
as it is, though unfortunately religious difiierences
loom large, most parties contain members drawn
from all sects. It is moreover not true to say
that beef is the national food of Muslims. In
the first place the Muslims of India are not as
yet a separate nation. In the second, beef is not
their ordinary food. Their ordinary food is the
same as that of the millions. What is true is
that there are very few Muslims who are vegeta-
rians froni a religious motive. Therefore they will
t&e meat, including beef, when they can get
it. But during the greater part of the year
millions of Muslims, owing to poverty, go with-
out meat of any kind. These are facts. But the
theoretical question demands a clear answer.
As a Hindu, a confirmed vegetarian, and a
worshipper of the cow whom I regard with the
same veneration as I regard my mother ( alas
no more on this earth ). I maintain that Mus-
. lims should have full freedom to slaughter cows,
if they wish, subject of course to hygienic
restrictions and in a manner not to wound
the susceptibilities of their Hindu neighbours.
Fullest recognition of freedom to the Muslims
to slaughter cows is indispensable for communal
harmony, and is the only way of saving the
cow. In 1921 thousands of cows were saved by
the sole and willing effort of Muslims themselves.
In spite of the black clouds hanging over our
heads, I refuse to give up the hope that they
will disperse and that we- shall have communal
peace in this unhappy land. If I am asked for
proof, I must answer that my hope is based on
faith and faith demands no proof.
Death Sentence
Q. Do you consider death sentence to be
against your principle of ahimsa ? If so, what
form of punishment would you advocate as a
substitute in a free India ?
A. I do regard death sentence as contrary to
ahimsa. Only He takes life who gives it. All
p unishm ent is repugnant to ahimsa. Under a
State governed according to the principles of
ahimsa, th&efore, a murderer would be sent to
a penitentiaty and there given every chance of
reforming himself. All crime is a kind of disease
and should be treated as such.
God's Will
Q. How can an ordinary man distinguish
between God’s will and his own will ?
A. By not regarding anything as God’s will
unless he has positive proof to the contrary.
Not every person can know God’s will. Proper
training is necessary to. attain the power to
know God’s will.
An Offence against Congress
Q. Some of the Congress committees here in
Adampur Doaba during the last Independence
Day celebrations got prepared national flags of
uncertified khadi, and some of them got badge
flags prepared from paper. They sold these to
raise funds. When questioned they pleaded that
they wanted funds for the Congress and could
not afford to sell badge flags made out of khadi
for one pice each and still retain something for
themselves. At some places I even found
national flags hoisted which were of mill cloth
and even without the spinning wheel. I per-
sonally feel that the spinning wheel and khadi
are the very soul of our flag ; and a national
flag which is printed on uncertified khadi and
without the spinning wheel mark on it, or a
paper flag cannot be called a national flag.
A. Your objection is sound. The Congress
committees who used as national flags paper flags
or those which were made of mill cloth or
uncertified khadi or without the charkha, com-
mitted an offence against the Congress. They
betrayed little regard for the flag. Any rag
cannot be used as a flag. It has to conform to
the prescribed pattern. If we do not respect
our own flag, we have no right to expect
others to do so. You have made out a case
for the central office having a stock of flags
of a variety of sizes. Nobody should be permit-
ted to use unauthorised flags as national flags.
Sevagram, 22-4-40
102
HARIJAN I April 27, 1940
m THE WAKE OF MECHANISATION
I
In the race for mechanisation going on in the
West, America would easily stand first — not only
in the mechanisation of industrial production
in which every big country is a competitor, but
of agriculture also, wherein natural conditions
and existence of large prairies have given her
a decisive advantage over the Old World. “The
farm tractor, the mechanical reaper-binder, and
the other power-driven instruments of modern
large-scale agriculture became the characteristic
tools of the prairie farmer," and “over the past
century the revolution in agriculture has fallen
no whit short of the revolution in industry."
(Cole) The capacity for mass production, both in
industry and agriculture — in America as elsewhere
in the West — has increased to such an extent
that “if we consider only the mechanical resources
required, our contemporary world has the elec-
tric power, the engines and the skill, to ensure,
if not at once to its entire population, then at
least to the peoples of Europe and North
America, an adequate and varied diet, sufficient
clothing, houses that satisfy civilised needs, and
with all this to meet the cravings of their
minds for hooks and music and visible beauty. The
machine has made poverty an anachronism. ” *
But do facts support these optimistic statements ?
The apparition of poverty still stalks the land,
and the world is faced with the paradox of
large masses of men submerged in poverty in
the midst of plenty both of agricultural and
industrial goods. “ The dwindling of the
national income, the slowing down of the
whole apparatus of production, the shrinkage
of international trade, the waste and misery
of mass-unemployment,” are stark realities, and
have led serious men in the West to
ask “ whether even in the Great War we
experienced a completer defeat of civilisation."®
While millions of men have not enough to feed
and clothe themselves, engines are kept idle
and wheat and cotton crops are burnt. “The
Brazilian Government,” says an English economist,
^‘throws into the Atlantic each season by the
million the bags of coffee that would make
breakfast for innumerable brick-layers. During
half a day last winter I journeyed in California
through apple orchards that stretched as far as
the eye could teach. The trees in every third
or fourth row had been ruthlessly lopped
to the graft, to check the embarrassing bounty
of nature for several years to come. There
vanished our builders' dessert.”® Articles of
food and raiment and luxuries are produced in
gigantic piles, but who is to consume them ?
The will and the need for consumption among
men ate there, but they lack the wherewithal
to buy the things. Then there is a slump,
production has to slow down, and the economic
structure gets a rude shaking from the effects
of which it takes a long time to recover.
“ There has arisen an apparent deficiency of
consuming power in relation to the capacity of
the productive system ; and the world’s most
pressing problem has come to be, not a further
increase of the power to produce, but the
devising of means for the full use of the
productive resources already at hand. ” There
must be ‘ something radically wrong with an
economic order which piles up means of rapid
and gigantic production, then stints the fruits
thereof to men most in need of them, and is
ultimately reduced to a state in which not only
the engines of production are perforce to be
kept idle but their valuable products destroyed.
Discerning men have even gone to the length
of saying that “ in our society a merciful man
who had perfected a beneficent labour-saving
invention might well conceal it. " This is then
the grim dilemma facing the present-day world.
Economists in the West have been sharply
at variance in diagnosing the disease and
suggesting remedies. There are a few among
them who, though not sworn enemies of
mechanisation, have been witnessing the tragic
results it has led to, have been disillusioned, and
have begun to doubt seriously its once trumpeted
benefits. For instance, says one of them;
“or wlaat use is it that scientists should devise
means of making human labour more productive, if
the result is to be that the increase of productive
power becomes a positive cause of unemployment
and distress? Of what use is it to devise machines
for the lightening of labour, if lliese machines will
only throw more and more people out of work and
income? And what are we to say of a world in
which the farmer, when b: sows his crop, has to
pray for a bad harvest in order to rescue him from
his financial difficulties? We live in an odd world
and no mistake.”*
Says another :
“Machinery, then, has not brought mathematics
into our daily life, or rather it has brought numbers
and order into one side of it, into our productive
activities, and even there they are the sovereigns
of petty kingdoms, for each of the many units of
production is isolated within its own walls. The
other side of our daily life, distribution, we abandon
to chance, and the pulls of unequal forces. The
result is that the machine has brought its curses
in full measure; its blessings it stints. It has torn
whole populations from the relative humanity of
village life, it has blasted our landscapes, withered our
trees and poisoned our streams; it has abolished the
craftsman’s pride in his creative skill; it has doomed
the majority of its servants to a life of deadening
monotony and strain. But for lack of an ordered
market, we enjoy neither the security which its
regular motions promise, nor the leisure and abun-
dance latent in its infinite capacity of reproduction.”®
A sombre picture this — which should suffice
to disturb the naivete of those of us who cling
1. H. N. Brailsford : Property or Peace, p. 12.
2. Ibid, p. 15. 3. Ibid, p. 11.
4. G. D. H. Cole : World Chaos, p. 65
5 H. N. Brailsford: Op Cit, p. 92-3.
APEIL 27, 1940 ]
HARIJAK
103
with a childlike faith to mechanisation and large
scale industrialisation. And things are not likely
to change much so long as the economic world
order remains substantially what it is today.
II
There may be differences of opinion among
economists about the diagnosis and remedies of
the economic ill-health from which the world
is suffenng, but there is no gainsaying the fact
that mechanisation leads directly to displace-
ment of human labour and unemployment.
“Its first effect,” says J. A. Hobson, “ as shown
by statistics, is to save ‘ labour ’ — that is, to
create more unemployment. ” Once large scale
mechanisation is introduced and the wheels of
high speed machinery set going, there can be
no halfway house or halting till human labour
is utterly done away with and lifeless robots
take its place. This is the logical and inevi-
table culmination of the process which has
come to be known as ‘rationalisation’. “Modern
machinery not only dispenses more and more
with the need for either physical strength or
manual skill, but also goes further towards
the positive displacement of labour.... In the
latest development of industrialism the emphasis
has been more and more upon this absolute
displacement of labour.... In these circumstances
the obvious way of lowering costs is to get rid
of labour altogether, or to use far less of it,
and especially in America and Germany this
form of rationalisation has been pushed of late
to astonishing lengths.... The displacement of
labour through mechanisation has been going on
faster than ever.... The chief means of reducing
costs nowadays is the absolute displacement of
human labour.”® C. S.
( To be continued )
PRINCELY EXTRAVAGANZA
II
The Imperial Game and States
The policy has undergone several gradations
at different periods of its history. But the one
primary consideration that runs like a connect-
ing thread through them all, as I shall presently
show, has been about strengthening and perpe-
tuation of the Imperial hold on India. The three
distinct phases through which it has passed
have been described as those of ‘Ring Fence’,
• Subordinate Isolation’, and ‘ Subordinate Union’.
From the point of view of the States these
may more fitly be characterized as those of
* Britain’s security’, ‘ Ascendency’, and ‘Empire’.
“ Safety First ”
During the first phase (1765-98) the guiding
consideration was the safety and permanence of
Britain’s position in India. The Company was
as yet struggling for bare existence. It was
surrounded on all sides by powerful rivals and
adversaries. It therefore naturally looked out
for friends and helpers among local potentates.
Its policy towards them had to be one of
*' fraternizing, ingratiation and reciprocity”. Clive
( 1758-67 ) “ sought the substance of territorial
power under the fiction of a grant from the
Mughal Emperor. Warren Hastings ( 1772-85 ),
“ like other British administrators of his time,
started with a conviction of the expediency of
ruling with the aid of the Native Power. ”®
Both Cornwallis ( 1786-93 ) and Sir John
Shore, who brought this period to a close,
were advocates of the policy of “non-interven-
tion”. The idea was to create an insulating belt
of friendly powers and, so far as possible, to
remain within a “ ring fence ” of powers thus
won over. There was a general dread of entangle-
ments.* And so we find in 1784 an Act of
Parliament declare that to pursue schemes of
conquest and extension of dominion in India are
measures repugnant to the wish, honour and
policy of this nation.” The prohibitory injunc-
tion was repeated in the Charter Act of 1793.
The treaties concluded in this period are based
on the principle of non-intervention and abound
in such expressions as ‘ mutual amity’, ‘ friendly
■co-operation’, ‘reciprocal obligation’, ‘ perpetual
friendship ’, ‘ firm alliance, etc. *
Power above All
It was, however, soon felt that unless the
Company could draw the neutral Princes beyond
the ° ring fence ’ to itself and reduce them to
subservience by diplomatic negotiation, its ad-
versaries might do so and the security, afforded
by the ‘ ring fence ’ might be jeopardized. With-
out ascendency there was no security. Domina-
tion thus became the key-note of the second
phase of its policy ( 1798-1858). Lord Wellesley,
who saw this, determined to establish the
ascendency of the British Power over all other
Stated in India by a system of subsidiary
treaties “ so framed as to deprive them of the
means of prosecuting ' any measure or of forming
any confederacy hazardous to the security of the
British Empire, and to enable us to preserve
the tranquillity of India by exercising a general
control over the restless spirit of ambition and
violence which is characteristic of every Asiatic
Government. ” ®
Lord Wellesley’s policy was carried a step
further by Lord Hastings ( Earl of Moira ) (1814-
23 ). He intensified and systematised the practice
introduced by Lord Wellesley.® “ Opposed as he
certainly was to annexation, he felt that the
true position of the States in the interior of
India was one of isolated and subordinate co-
( Continued on p. 106 )
1. Imperial Gazetteer, Vol. II, p. 429.
2. Ibid, Vol. II, p. 482. 3. Ibid, Vol. II, p. 488.
4. Ibid, Vol. II. p. 192.
5. The Udaipur Treaty of 1818 is illustrative of
this policy. By Article 2 “The British Government
engages to protect the principality and territory of
Udaipnr. Article 3 lays down that “the Mahiaja
will always act in subordinate cooperation with
the British Government and acknowledge its supre-
macy and will not have any connexion with other
chiefs and states.” Article 4, again, prohibits any
negotiation with other States without the sanction
of the British Government
6. Private Journal of Marquis of Hastings ( 1814)
6 G. D. H. Cole: Op Cit, p. 144-5; 148-9.
104
HARIJAN
[ April 27, 1940
NOTICE
The next issue ( to be published on 4th May )
will contain 12 and will be priced at / Amxa
6 Pies per copy. Agents will please notify changes
in their requirements, if any, by Thursday next.
Manager
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The Working Committee advisedly passed no
startling or new resolution this time. For there
was no programme before them. That of civil
disobedience has to be evolved by me. But the
Committee had useful discussions on many points
arising out of the contemplated movement.
I propose to give the readers the gist of what
I told the members of the Committee, with the
necessary amplification.
Civil disobedience in the face of the lawless-
ness that prevails in the country will easily pass
for the same unless it is beyond doubt recognised
as something different in kind from the prevailing
brand. Thus the Khaksar defiance is admittedly
and openly violent. The kisans who held up the
train between Gaya and Kiul were violent
under cover of non-violence. They were doubly
guilty according to the non-violent conception.
For they are supposed to be Congressmen.
To hold .up a train is disobedience with-
out doubt. And so far as the Congress is
concerned, according to the Ramgarh resolution
Congressmen may not resort to civil disobedience
singly or in groups without my permission. I
have already said that Prof: Ranga’s disobedience
was also not civil. His friends have asked me
to withdraw my criticism. I claim to be a
special friend of his. We became friends pro-
bably before the protesters knew him. And it
is because he is such a close friend that 1
condemned his action without mincing words.
I am sure he will not misunderstand me. In
any event when a man of his learning chooses
deliberately to commit an act of indiscipline
it must come to me as a warning against
any hasty action.
Now civil disobedience, if it is really civil,
must appear so even to the opponent. He must
feel that the resistance is not intended to do
him any harm. At the present moment the
average Englishman thinks that non-violence is
merely a cloak. The Muslim Leaguers think
that civil disobedience is aimed at them more
than at the British. I protest with all the
strength at my command that, so far as I am
concerned, I have no desire whatsoever to
embarrass the British, especially at a time when
it is a question of life and death with them.
All I want the Congress to do through civil
disobedience is to deny the British Government
the moral influence which the Congress co-
operation would give. The material resources of
India and her man power are already being
exploited by the British Government by reason
of their control of the whole of this sub-
continent.
If by civil disobedience the Congress has no
desire to embarrass the British people, it has
still less to embarrass the Muslim League. And
I can say this on behalf of the Congress
with far greater assurance than I can with
regard to the British. Working in the midst of
suspicion and terrible misrepresentation on the
one band and the prevailing lawlessness outside
and inside the Congress on the other, I have
to think a thousand times before embarking
on civil disobedience.
So far as 1 can see at present mass civil
disobedience is most unlikely. The choice lies
between individual civil disobedience on a large
scale, very restricted, or confined only to me.
In every case there must be the backing of the
whole of the official Congress organisation and
the millions who, though not on the Congress
register, have always supported the organisation
with their mute but most effective co-operation.
I have repeatedly shown in these columns
that the most effective and visible co-operation
which all Congressmen and the mute millions
can show is by not interfering with the course
civil disobedience may take and by themselves
spinning and using khadi to the exclusion of all
other cloth. If it is allowed that there is a
meaning in people wearing primroses on Prim-
rose Day, surely there is much more in a
people using a particular kind of cloth and
giving a particular kind of labour to the cause
they hold dear. From their compliance with the
khadi test I shall infer that they have shed
untouchability, and that they have nothing but
brotherly feeling towards all without distinction
of race, colour or creed. Those who will do
this are as much satyagrahis as those who will
be singled out for civil disobedience.
Sevagram, 23-4-40
Committee for Preliminary Agreement ?
The following wire from London was received
by Gandhiji on 22-4-40:
“London. Grateful to receive an exposition of
your attitude to proposal that committee of
Indian leaders representing all interests should
try to reach agreement on essential preliminary
to final constitutional settlement. "-News Chronicle
He has sent the following reply to it:
“ Proposal . convening committee leaders reach
preliminary agreement attractive, provided leaders
elected, not nominated, according to acceptable
procedure. This is my personal view. Unconsult-
ed colleagues. "—Gandhi
NOTICE
The business hours of our Bombay office will
hereafter be 8 to 11 A. M. and 3 to 7 P. M. Readers
will please note the change. Manager
HARIJAN
APEIL 27, 1940 ]
AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW
[ The following interview was given by Gandhiji
to a representative of The Hew York Times.
A. K.]
Q. I have heard it said on behalf of Britain,
" We cannot say what the new world is going
to be at the end of the war; the Indian prob-
lem cannot be isolated from world problems ;
Dominion Status, Independence, may mean some-
thing very different then, or nothing at all, if
Germany should win. Therefore why should not
India accept Dominion Status under the Statete
of Westminster now and take her chance and
■her opportunity at the Peace Conference ?
Dominion Status under existing circumstances is
the highest we can offer India. ” You yourself
have said, “ Of what value is freedom to India
if Britain and France fail ? ” Can you throw
some light on these points ?
A, The legal status of India, whether it is
Dominion Status or something else, can only
come after the war. It is not a question at
present to decide whether India should be
satisfied with Dominion Status for the time
being. The only question is what is the British
policy ? Does Great Britain still hold the view
that it is her sole right to determine the status
of India or whether it is the sole right of TnHia
to make that determination ? E that question had
not been raised, there would have been no dis-
cussion such as we are facing today. The ques-
tion having been raised — and it was India’s tight
to raise it — I was bound to throw in my weight,
such as it is, with the Congress. Nevertheless
I can still repeat the question I put to myself
immediately after the first interview with the
Viceroy : “ Of what value is freedom to India if
Britain and France fail ?” If these powers fail,
the history of Europe and the history of the
world will be written in a manner no one can
foresee. Therefore my question has its own
independent value. The relevant point, however,
is that by doing justice to India Britain might
ensure victory of the Allies because their cause
will then be acclaimed as righteous by the
enlightened opinion of the world.
Q. Have you any views about world federa-
tion ( Strait’s scheme of 15 white democracies
with India excluded at present ) or about
a federation of Europe with the British Com-
monwealth and again excluding India ? Would
you advise India to enter such a larger federa-
tion so as to prevent a domination of the
coloured races by the white ?
A. Of course I would welcome a world
federation of all the nations of the world. A
federation of the Western nations only will be
an unholy combination and a menace to huma-
nity. In my opinion a federation excluding
India is now an impossibility. India has already
passed the stage when she could be safely
neglected.
Q. You have seen in your lifetime more
devastation by war than there has been at any
105
time in the world’s history. And yet do you
still believe in non-violence as the basis of a
new civilization? Are you satisfied that your
own countrymen accept it without reservation ?
You continue to harp on your conditions being
fulfilled before starting civil disobedience. Do
you still hold to them ?
A. You arc right in pointing out that there
is unheard-of devastation going on in the world.
But that is the real moment for testing my
faith in non-violence. Surprising as it may
appear to my critics, my faith in non-violence
remains absolutely undimmed. Of course non-
violence may not come in my lifetime in the
measure I would like to see it come, but that
is a different matter. It camnot shake my faith,
and that is why I have become unbending so
far as the fulfilment of my conditions prior to
the starting of civil disobedience is concerned;
because, at the risk of being the laughing-stock
of the whole world, I adhere to my belief that
there is an unbreakable connection between the
spinning wheel and non-violence so far as India
is concerned. Just as there are signs by which
you can recognise violence with the naked eye,
so is the spinning wheel to me a decisive sign
of non-violence. But nothing can deter me from
working away in hope. I have no other method
for solving the many baffling problems that
face India.
/' / / ■
Q.' You want a declaration that ' henceforth
India 'shall govern . herseE according /to her' own-
wilE You/also, say,-^ “It^is possible- Tor/the best-
Englishmen and 'fhe best/ Indians tO'^meet'4ogrther
and/never'^O'' separate ^ill/'they hav^/evolvM a/
formula/'acceptable to' both/”' The/ British''^ say/^
“■ We are' vitally -interested in'' defence^^our 'com-
mercial/interests/ and , the-" Indian States;!! Are
you 'willing to-' allow your- best Englishmen /and
your, best'Tndi^s to'^en;ter- Ipto a ' treaty
regard'^ to these^atters ."'^in a/ spirit
accommodation ’/■''t^^he-'' language/ of the'^ Anglo/
Egyptian''^ treaty of^l922.'')C' - .
/ / ^
A;'lf^the bes^Englishmen^and the best Indians-'
meet /together with ^ a 'Sxed/ determination/hot to-
separate until they/ have/ reached , an''' agreement/^
the '^ay "will have beenf opened 'for the/ sum-
monmg of ''the/ Constituent ^ AssembN ' ' of ^ my
conception/ Of , course this comTOat'e''bom:d''will
have to-'^bc of^one' m^d as toAhe'^ goalJ^ that"
is/put theAnelting' pot,, there will ^m^hing
but/^interrmnable'' wrangjiiig. /Therefore .^eljEneter/
mination/must ba'tha common'’ cause ^with this
composite board!
Q. Supposing India does become free in your
lifetime, what will you devote the rest of your
years to ?
A. E India becomes free in my lEetime and
I have still energy left in me, of course I
would take my due share, though outside the
official world, in building up the nation on a
strictly non-violent basis.
Sevagram, 22-4-40
106
HAEIJAK
[ April 27, 1940
PRINCELY EXTRAVAGANZA
( Continued Jrom p> 103 )
operation,” The motive behind this policy was
twofold : ( 1 ) combinations should be made
impossible among the Princes ; ( 2 ) they should
be rendered incapable of even independent self-
defence. Peace and protection were offered to
those who engaged to live “secluded and innocent”.
The idea was to so weaken and demoralise them
that they should cease to be a menace to British
Power, Residents were sent to the various courts.
Instead of acting in the character of ambassadors
they assumed the functions of dictators, interfered
in all their private concerns, countenanced
refractory subjects against them, and made “ the
most ostentatious eshibition of their exercise of
authority’*. Not that -there was felt any real
concern for the States subjects. On the contrary.
Lord Hastings deprecated intervention as a
breach of faith ” and ridiculed solicitude on
the part of the British for the subjects of a
“ Native State *’ as “ quixotic ”. The Princes were
in outward form at least to be absolute masters
of all within their territories, unquestioned and
undisturbed, but only ivithin.
Fishing for Excuses
This policy of “ subordinate isolation cum
non-intervention” had, however, some unexpected
repercussions. As early as 1805 Lord Cornwallis,
during his second term of oflSce, had ruefully
noted that “the States which were most inti-
mately connected* with us were reduced to the
most forlorn condition, that these powers pos-
sessed no funds or troops on which they could
depend, that anarchy and disaffection prevailed
universally throughout the dominions.” Before
long, predatory gangs overran the face of the
whole country and threatened the peace of the
Company’s territories. In short, the neighbour-
hood of British India became both unsafe and
disreputable.”
As the external menace disappeared “allies”
were no longer needed who were more a liability
than an asset, and the policy ot .non-intervention
was given up in favour of that of active interven-
tion and annexation. Lord Dalhousie laid down
the dictum that “the British Government is bound
not to put aside or neglect such rightful oppor-
tunities of acquiring territory or revenue as may
from time to time present themselves.” And since
some colourable excuse was necessary to justify
such a course, the British administrators, from
regarding solicitude for the subjects of the
“Native States” as “quixotic”, began now to
appear in the role of disinterested humanitarians
and “ champions of the oppressed states subjects”.
The patronage was transferred form the Princes
to their people; Lord William Bentinck’s
annexations were nearly all “ punishments for
misrule ”. Hardinge talked of the “ stigma of
tolerating oppression, which the British Govern-
ment cannot submit to.” Lord Dalhousie regard-
ed his annexations as simply “assignments made
to the Company by Providence itself in its
denial of natural heirs to vacant thrones.” But
they were also a means of “ insuring to the
population of the State a perpetuity of just
and mild Government ! ”
Consolidating Gains
The rising of 1857 marked the beginning of
the third phase. The Crown of England had
emerged from the maelstrom as the unquestioned
ruler and Paramount Power, The question was
now to consolidate the foundations of its autho-
rity. This called for a reversal of the annexa-
tionist policy of Lord Dalhousie. It has been
objected that, if the policy of perpetuating the
States’ rule by the grant of “ adoption sanads ’
was accepted, it would cut off “ further oppor-
tunities of accession of territory”. To this Lord
Canning’s reply was :
“ I regard this not as an objection but as a
recommend^Ltion. Our first care should be to
strengthen that rule within its present limits, and
secure for our general supremacy the contented
acquiescence and respect of all who are subjected to it;
the supremacy will never be heartily accepted and
respected so long as we leave ourselves open to the
doubts which are now felt, and which our uncertain
policy has justified, as to our ultimate intentions
towards Native States. We shall not become stronger
so long as we continue adding to our territory
without adding to our European force; and the addi-
tions to that force which we already require are
probably as large as England can conveniently
furnish, and they will certainly cost as much as
India can conveniently pay, As to Civil Government,
our English officers are too few for the work they
have in their hands, and our financial means are not
yet equal to the demands upon us.”
As “Breakwaters’ to Storm
“ The safety of our rule,’* he argued, “ is increased,
not diminished, by the maintenance of native chiefs
well affected to us-” He recalled how during the
troublous and anxious days of 1857-58 “these patches
of native governnoent served as breakwaters to the
storm which would otherwise have swept over us
in one great wave.” “ And in quiet times they
have their uses. Restless men who will accept no
profession but arms, crafty intriguers bred up in
native courts, and others who would chafe at our
stricter and more formal rule, live there contentedly;
and should the day come when India shall be
threatened by an external enemy, or when the in-
terests of England elsewhere may require that her
eastern Empire shall incur more than ordinary risk,
one of our best mainstays will be found in these
native states. But to make them so, we must
treat their chiefs and their leading families with
consideration and generosity, teaching them that,
in spite of all suspicions to the contrary, their inde-
pendence is safe, that we are not wailing for
plausible opportunities to convert their territory into
British territoty, and convincing them that, they have
nothing to gain by helping to displace us in favour of
any new rulers from within or without-
“ It was long ago said by Sir John Malcolm that,
if we made all India into Zillahs ( or British
distriots )y it was not in the nature of things that
our empire should last fifty years, but that, if we
could keep up a number of native states, without
political power, but as royal instruments, we should
exist in India so long as our naval superiority in
Europe was maintained.” ( Italics mine )
(To he continued )
Sevagram, 8-4-40
Pyarelal
April 27, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
107
THEN AND NOW
The January issue of The Asiatic Review that
has just come to hand contains the text of a
paper read by Sir Alfred Watson at a meeting
of the East India Association and a summary
of the discussion that followed. Among those
who participated in it were Sir Michael
O’Dwyer; Mr. F, G. Pratt and Lord Lamington.
“ What has shocked us in this country, ” remark-
ed Sir Alfred, quoting Lord Salisbury’s words
in the House of Lords, “ is that these Indian
leaders have thought fit to use the international
situation in order to promote a further step
towards self-government. ” Sir Alfred proceeded
to say that, though his own nerves were not
so susceptible as Lord Salisbury’s, he recognised
that the latter did represent a point of view,
and that “ it was a grave misfortune to the
Indian cause that those holding his ( Lord
Salisbury’s ) view should have been strength-
ened in their opposition to Indian aspirations
by Congress action.” The accusation has since
been repeated in other quarters too.
The elasticity of the British conscience is
proverbial. It has shown itself to be fairly
tough and shock-proof when Britain really
meant business. Mr. F. G. Pratt, who as an
ex-Indian administrator knows both India and
England well, was not slow to call attention to
the fact. He reminded Sir Alfred and the house
that it was in the middle of the Great War
that the Dominion ministers at the Imperial Con-
ference of April 16, 1917, had insisted upon “the
full recognition of the Dominions as autonomous
units of an Imperial Commonwealth, and of
India as an important part of the same, and
also on recognition of the right of the Domi-
nions and of India to an adequate voice in
foreign relations.” It did not shock British
conscience then. Nobody thought of accusing
the Dominions of “ political bargaining
The chief contention of the Dominions, it will
be remembered, was, as voiced by Sir Robert
Borden, in moving his resolution was that the
theory of trusteeship, on which the inter-
imperial relations in regard to the question of
foreign policy, foreign relations and common
defence of the Empire were based, “ was certa in
to prove not only entirely inadequate to the
needs of the Empire' but incompatible with the
..aspirations of the people of the Dominions in
the future,’’ and that “it could not continue
indefinitely in the future, whatever] might be
said of it in the past.” Mr. Massey remarked that,
if the different parts of the Empfre were to be
kept together, the bonds to hold them wou Id
need to be, “while stronger than steel, as light
as silk that will not chafe and not seriously
inconvenience British citizens in any part of the
Empire. " The readjustment of the constitutional
relations of the component parts, further, was
not to be made contingent upon certain things
happening in, or certain conditions being satisfi ed
by, the Dominions concerned, as is sought to be
done in the case of India today, but were to
be taken up “as soon as possible after the
termination of hostilities. ” Most significant was
the note struck by General Smuts who observed,
“ If we have no other resolution at this confer-
ence than this one, I am sure that we will
have done a good day’s work for this Empire.”
The resolution, far from proving a “stumbling
block ” to the recognition of their claim, paved
the way for the Statute of Westminster. From
the operation of that Statute India was, how-
ever, excluded, India has, therefore, a perfect
right to demand that before she is called upon
to defend the principle of self-determination in
Europe it shall be applied in full to her case
by Britain, as a test of her sincerity. To call
this “cold calculation” and “exacting the high-
est price before striking a blow ”, as some of
the Imperial spokesmen at the East India Asso-
ciation did, is surely gross perversion of langu-
age which only changed times and the changed
scene could make possible
Sevagram, 22-4-40 Pyarelal
WHAT BIG EMPLOYERS CAN DO
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Shri Vithaldas Jerajani sends me the following
from Shri Shantikumar of the Scindia House:
“During the National Week every effort will be
made to sell khadi by hawking from place to place.
Then why not approach the big offices and get them
to agree to buy khadi for peons’ dresses ? The peons
dresses are always provided by the Companies. Last
year the Scindia Company provided khadi uniforms for
the peons, and this year also we are going to have
the same. I have already sent circulars to the
Branches of the Company to use khadi for the
uniforms of peons there. I am trying to push khadi
uniforms in other Associated Companies of the
Scindia Company.
1 am also trying to push the use of handmade
paper in the office cf the Scindia Company. I have
been successful to some extent in this case but not
to my satisfaction. I am making every effort to
increase the use of handmade paper.”
I have no hesitation in whole-heartedly endors-
ing tbe suggestion made by Shri Shantikumar.
I would go a step further. In order that the
peons who have willynilly to wear uniforms
provided for them may not feel any inferiority,
the big office staff should set the example by
themselves voluntarily using khadi for their
garments. Khadi is one of the greatest levellers.
The peons should be able to take pride in their
uniforms. This they will only do when they
know that their employers use the same material
as that of which their uniforms are made. The
greater the approach on the part of employers
to their employees, the greater the possibility
of a peaceful solution of the difficult problem of
class conflict. I therefore hope that Shri Shand-
kumar’s effort will be appreciated by the other
employers. Indeed the idea should be taken up
by all public institutions such as hospitals
students' hostels, etc.
108
HARIJAN
[ Apeil 27, 1940
The use of handmade paper is a less difficult
problem. For good handmade paper is any day
more artistic than and superior to the ordinary
mill paper, and there is not the same difference
in the prices of the two varieties as in th^
case of khadi and mill-made cloth. The big
houses owe it to the millions to use as many
handmade articles as is possible for them to do.
Sevagramo 22-4-40
ABOUT ZAMINDARS
who are as patriotic as any Congressmen,
2 A nationalist Zamindar will try to live like
a non-Zamindar, He will regard his tenants as
his co-proprietors; in other words, he will hold
his Zamindari in trust for his tenants taking a
moderate commission for the use of his labours
and capital. A nationalist non-Zamindar will not
regard the Zamindar as his natural enemy but
will seek redress of his wrongs by the process
of conversion, I have shown before now that
this is not a long drawn out agony.
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A first class Deccan Sardar propounds the
following conundrums :
“You say, on page 442 lines 4-6 of Harijan of
10th February, that you put Europeans on the same
footing as big Zamindars and capitalists. T presume
that you include in the general word ‘Zamindars’
Inamdars, Talukdars and big Landholders.
1. Will you be pleased to say whether you
remember and realise the fact that Europeans are
foreigners and their earnings and profits go out of
the country to enrich other nations and make them
more powerful instruments to exploit India; while
Zamindars and Inamdars, particularly of Maha-
rashtra, are Indians, who have patriotic blood running
in their veins, and who will lay their bones in India,
and all their earnings and savings, and even their
extravagance will remain in this country and enrich
the country ? Many of these people have national
interests fully at heart and are always prepared to
help the national development.
2. What are the differences between a nationa-
list Zamindar and a nationalist non-Zamindar, in
your opinion ?
3. What exact position do you assign to Zamin-
dars and Inamdars, and the capitalists in a free
and Independent India ? Will these classes be allowed
to fully play their proper and active part in national
development ? Can these two classes expect justice
and fair play in an Independent India ?
4. Have the Zamindars and Inamdars and capi-
talists any place in the present Congress, consistent
with their limitations and commitments ? ”
Answer :
1, I make no difference between Europeans
and Indians, if the former conform to the laws
of Free India. I cannot, consistently with my
views on non-violence. Under my scheme,
European settlers will not be allowed to exploit
the country as most of them are doing today.
Patriots will have had their reward in the shape
of freedom of their country. They are no patriots
who arc working with selfish personal ends in
view. If we create a State based on pure justice,
real equality and genuine brotherhood, Europeans
will cease to be foreigners. They will take
pride in pooling their talents for the sole good
of the country of their adoption.
I gladly acknowledge the fact that there are
many Inamdars, Zamindars and other capitalists
3. This is answered in the foregoing. Anta-
gonism between the classes will be removed. I
do not envisage a dead and artificial level,
among the people. There will be a variety among
them as there is among the leaves of a tree.
There will certainly be no have-nots, no un-
employment, and no disparity between classes
and masses such as we see today. I have no
doubt whatsoever that, if non-violence in its full
measure becomes the policy of the State, we
shall reach essential equality without strife.
4. All who subscribe to the simple creed
of the Congress can join it. As a matter of
fact there are many monied members of the
Congress. To quote only one instance, Jamna-
lalji is a capitalist and he is a member of the
Working Committee.
Sevagram, 22-4-40
Home and Village Docte
By SaHsh Chandra Dasgtipla
1384 pages. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages.
219 illustrations. Price Rs. 5 cloth-bound; By V. P.
P- Rs. 6. Published by Kjiadi Pratisthan, 1 5 College
Square, Calcutta. Available at (1) Harijan office —
Poona 4; (2) Harijan office — 81 Queens Road,,
opp. Marine Lines Station, Bombay 2. “ Every village
worker knowing English will make it a point to
possess a copy,*’ says Gandhiji. Several eminent
doctors have spoken highly of the book. "The book",,
says the author, "has behind it the experience of over
ten thousand cases treated in the various institutions
connected with the Khadi Pratisthan for the past
seven years, according to the lines indicated. *’
CONTENTS Page
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 101
In the Wake of
Mechanisation I-II ... C. S. 102
Princely Extravaganza IJ ... Pyarelal 103"
Civil Disobedience ... M. K. Gandhi 104
An Important Interview ... A. K. 105
Then and Now .... Pyarelal 10/
About Zamindars ... M. K. Gandhi 10>
Note:
Committee for Preliminary
Agreement ? M. K. G. 104
What Big Employers
Can Do ... M. K. G. 107
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press. 915/1 Fergnsson College Road, Poona 4
SabMiriatimi Rain — lULATO : One year, B«. 4, Six montha, Ba. 2-8, FOBSIQH : One year, Ea. 5-8 or, 8 ah, or 2 $.
Rego No. B 3092
Editor : MAHADEV OESAl
VoL. VIII, No. 12 ] POONA — SATURDAY. MAY 4, 1940 [ ONE ANNA SIX PIES
QUESTIOiT BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
No Confusion
Q. There is still a lot of confusion in the
public mind about the Indian situation. How
can one remove it ?
A. Confusion should have been removed as
soon as the popular ministers resigned. They
were the chosen representatives of the people.
They had applied themselves to their work
with amazing industry and efficiency which
won the unstinted praise of the Governors.
They took no rest themselves and allowed none
to their subordinates. They had set a definite
programme before themselves which would have
improved the condition of the masses. It must
have cost them a lot to give up office. But
they found to their amazement that Provin-
cial Autonomy, which Sir Samuel Hoare had
declared -from the house-tops to be real and
complete, was reduced to a farce in the twinkling
of an eye. The popular ministers were to be
mere registering officers to carry out the will
of the central executive so far as war measures
were concerned. In this most vital matter they
were not consulted formally or informally. So
the ministers had to resign. This one act of
theirs was complete in itself. Its importance is
not felt as it should be because the Congress
is wedded to non-violence.
Congress Not Responsible
Q. Many people believe that the attitude of
the Congress has precipitated the Muslim
League resolution about partitioning India.
A. I do not think so. But if it has, it is a
distinct gain. It is good that what was in should
come out. It is easier now to deal with the
problem. It will solve itself. One distinct gain is
that nationalist Muslims have become awakened
to a sense of their duty.
Muslim Rule = Indian Rule
Q. Would you prefer Muslim rule to British
rule ?
A. The question is badly put. You, being
British, cannot get out of the babit of thinking
that India is fit only to be ruled by someone.
Muslim rule is equivalent to Indian rule. You
might as well ask me whether I would prefer
Bengali or Maratha to British rule. Maratha,
Bengali, Sikh, Dravidian, Parsi, Christian
(Indian), Muslim — all will be Indian rule. It
makes no difference to me that some Muslims
regard themselves as a separate nation. It is
enough for me that I do not consider them as
such. They are sons of the soil. Muslims
considered separately have eight crores of
unarmed Muslims scattered over India to look
to. But you have the whole British nation and
your army of occupation to look to. You
belong to the ruling race. You are less than one
hundred thousand in the midst of 350 millions
over whom you rule. It is a matter of shame
both for you and us. I need not weigh whose
is the greater shame. The sooner we get out
of it the better for both of us.
You will now understand my answer when I
say that I would any day prefer Muslim rule
to British rule. I have no doubt that, if British
rule which divides us by favouring one or the
other as it suits the Britishers were withdrawn
today, Hindus and Muslims would forget their
quarrels and live like brothers which they are.
But supposing the worst happened and we had
a civil war, it would last for a few days or
months and w>’e would settle down to business.
In status we are equal. With you, it is
different. You have disarmed us. Those of us
who have been trained by you really belong
to you rather than to us. We are no match,
for you in military power. You do not know
how the rule has stunted the nation.
Immediately British rule is really ended, we
shall grow as never before, in spite of all
forebodings.
Why This Partiality?
Q. Both Prof. Ranga and Shri Jaiprakash
Narain have been punished under the law. But
while you were moved by the latter’s sentence
you have denounced Prof. Ranga, and this in
spite of the fact that Prof. Range’s offence was,,
if anything, a technical one, whereas Shri Jai-
prakash by obstructing the war effort invited
the penalty of the law upon himself. I agree
that Prof. Ranga should not have broken the
law. But then does not your attitude betray
partiality on your part towards the one and
antipathy towards the other ?
A. You are hopelessly wrong. Your admission
that Prof. Ranga was wrong in breaking the
order shows that your cause is not just. Prof.
Ranga is as good a friend to me as Shri
Jaiprakash. I should have expressed the same
opinion about the latter’s action if he had
done what Prof. Ranga did. There is no room
in public life for partial friendships. Indeed, real
friendship is in no need of partiality. I have
110
HARIJAK I may 4, 194©
none for Shri Jaiprakash. Nor have I any anti-
pathy towards Prof. Ranga. I have perhaps less
diSerences with Prof. Range than with Shri
Jaiprakash, but that makes no difference to me,
Shri Jaiprakash committed no breach of an order.
He delivered a speech which was regarded as
contrary to law'. In Prof. Range’s case there
was a deliberate breach of an order served on
him. The two things are different, I have
answered your question, because I attach impor-
tance to the breach. I also want to warn .those
who accept Congress discipline against such
breaches.
A Municipal Chairman s Duty
Q. My father is the Congress Municipal
Chairman of a certain place. In a recent bye-
election for a ward the official Congress candi-
date was defeated, A local youth organisation
gave a tea party in honour of the successful
non-Congress candidate. My father was invited
and he attended. His view was that once a
candidate is elected, no matter to what party
he belongs, as Chairman it was his duty to
welcome him and get the best of co-operation
from him in the interests of civic welfare.
Some people feel that attending a function given
in honour of an opponent is harmful to the
party’s cause.
A. Your father, I am sure, was quite right.
He would have been wrong, if he had not
attended the function. An opponent is entitled
to the same regard for his principles as we
would expect others to have for ours. Non-
violence demands that we should seek every
opportunity to win over opponents. And what
can be better than that we share their joys and
sorrows? Moreover your father as Chairman was
bound to be impartial. It was, therefore, doubly
his duty to attend the function.
Sevagram, 30-4-40
Gram Sevak Vidyalaya
The next session of the Gram Sevak Vidyalaya of
the A. I. V. I. A. Wardha will be from 1-7-40 to
30-4-41. Admission will be closed on 1st June
1940 and students must present themselves at the
Vidyala:^a not later than 1st July 1940,
Application forms for admission and further parti-
culars can be had from the Superintendent, Gram
Sevak Vidyalaya, Maganvadi Wardha, C. P.
Handmade Paper
We stock handmade paper in about 75 varieties
made in 12 different producing centres in India —
Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Erandol, Hyderabad ( Dn. ),
Jaipur, Kalpi, Koratla, Nepal, Outshahi, Sialkot, Sode-
pur and Wardha — from the thinnest tissue paper and
air mail paper to the thickest paper, and in many
different colours, to suit various tastes and require-
ments. It is sold in the form of whole sheets, letter
paper, envelopes ( over 50 varieties ), blotting paper,
cards, account books, office files, tag labels, and
pocket books. Samples sent on receipt of two anna
postal stamps. A sample file ( which is a miniature
exhibition in itself ) sent on receipt of Re, 1, It is
up to patriotic persons to give l^ndmade paper a
chance whenever they require any of the things mention-
ed above. (1) Harijan Office — Poona 4; (2) Harijan
Branch — 81 Queen’s Road, 0pp. Marine Lines Station,
Bombay 2.
PRINCELY EXTRAVAGANZA
III
” Divide and Rule
And so the policy of “ subordinate union and
co-operation/’ was launched. ‘®The Prince was
granted possession and administration but not
sovereignty, and his possession was made condi-
tional on his remaining faithful in allegiance and
subordination to the Crown.” ^ Treaties hereafter
were no longer concluded on terms of equality.
Older treaties were not revised or abrogated.
“Instead, the milder and less provocative device
of constructive interpretation was relied upon.”*
Difficulties and apparent contradictions involved
in this policy were vividly described by Lord
Elgin who succeeded Lord Canning ( 1862 );
“ If you attempt to crush all superiorities, you
unite the native population in a homogeneous mass
against you. If you foster pride of rank and
position, you encourage pretensions which you cannot
gratify, partly because you dare not abdicate your
own functions as a Paramount Power and partly
because you cannot control the arrogance of your
subjects of the dominant ( sic ) race. Scindia and
Holkar are faithful to us in proportion as they are
weak and conscious that they require our aid to
support them against their own subjects and neigh-
bours.. ..My own opinion is that Canning never
intended to let the chiefs get the bits into their
mouths, or to lose his hold over them. It is true
that he rode them with a loose rein, but the pace
was so killing that it took the kick out of them
and a light hand and silken thread were all that
was required. His policy of deference to the
authority of the Native Chiefs was a means to an
end, the end being the establishment of British Raj
in India; and when the means and the end came
into conflict, or seemed likely to do so, the former
went to the wall. ’
A Dutch Auction
Here wc have an authoritative statement of
the time-honoured British policy of “ divide and
rule” propounded with a Machiavellian skill and
frankness that almost takes away one’s breath.
Lord Curzon’s insistence on “ efficiency ” and his
dictatorial manner with the Princes, however,
introduced a ‘ rift in the lute * at a time when
“the Government of India was beginning under
political pressure to contemplate utilizing their
services to counter revolution”.^ Wrote Lord
Minto, his successor, to Lord Morley (May 28,
1906 ) : “ I have been thinking a good deal lately
of a possible counterpoise to Congress aims. I
think wc may find a solution in the Council
of Princes.”
The latter demanded their price and had to
be propitiated.^ Lord Minto and his successors,
1. Keith: A Constitutional History of India^ p. 217.
2. Ibid, p. 217.
3. Ibidf p. 218.
4. Compare the following in support of the claim
put forward by the Bhavnagar Darbar for the
withdrawal of the plenary jurisdiction which, it was
complained, the British authorities had unfairly estab-
May 4, 1940 ]
HABIJAlf
while admitting in theory that “ in guaranteeing
the internal independence of the States and in
undertaking their protection against external
aggression... Imperial Government assumed a cer^
tain degree of responsibility for the general
soundness of their administration and would not
consent to incur the reproach of being an in-
direct instrument of misrule,” in practice gave
them a loose rein. The result was that they
relapsed into the self-indulgent and unenlightened
despotism from which Lord Curzon had tried
to pull them out thereby necessitating a long
chapter of abdications which came to a head
in Lord Reading’s regime. Their stock, how-
ever, again soared • high when it was sought to
bring them into the Federation, “ not, as the
Simon Commission intended, as fellow self-
go vering units... but to make the Centre conser-
vative and pro-English.’*® But the Paramount
Power, while it was prepared to go a long way
to humour them as far as their personal extra-
vaganza was concerned, unceremoniously turned
down their demand for release from the burden
of Paramountcy as the price for entering the
Federation. And even the Conservative Prime
Minster, Mr. Chamberlain, found it handy to
take public notice of that usually forgotten
entity, the States’ subjects. “ He made it clear
that he did not suppose that there was anyone
in the House who thought the Princes were
the only people to be considered.... He was
unwilling to allow the House to be driven
from what it thought proper to enter into a
Dutch auction for the sport of the Princes.”
Sir Samuel Hoare too was equally frank. He
plainly told the Princes that Paramountcy must
remain paramount. The only way in which
they could lighten the burden of paramountcy
for themselves was by exchanging for it.
in certain spheres, the control of the Federal
Government, if they so chose. If they had the
most of Federation, they would be under the
least of paramountcy. But* having declared its
unpreparedness to enter into a Dutch auc-
tion for the sport of the Princes, whom it
claimed as its vassals, to bring them into the
Federation, the Paramount power now turns
round and requires the Congress to do • the same
lished over the Bhavnagar State Railway: “One
of the ironies of the thing is that the Princes, who
have taken a stern line against the spread of sedi-
tion by agitators from British India, are debarred
from loyal action. The situation was summed up
in 1918 by the Maharaja of Bhavnagar:
“ With the control of the police of my railway
taken away from me, any agitation walla or mischief-
monger from Ahmedabad, or any other part of the
country, can make use of my own railway to travel
and come up to Bhavnagar station, and knock at
the very gate of my capital city. He can instigate
my employers to go on strike, to hamper the
working of the railway, to misuse the telegraph wires
and generally to defy authority — and this without
my being able so much to point a finger at him.”
( A. P. Nicholson : Scraps of Paper ^ p. 229 )
5, Mr. J. Wedgewood before the Joint Select
Committee.
ill
in order to negotiate a settlement v^ith them as
a condition precedent to the fulfilment of its
declaration with regard to the Indian Independ-
ence that it has made before the world 1
A Mockery of Justice
This is a strange mockery of justice. The
Crown claims and exercises absolute suzerainty
over the Princely order. It questions their right
to introduce reforms in the States without the
previous consent snd sanction of the Political
Department. They are Kable to be set aside
for “ not listening ” to the advice that the
Crown’s Representative might give them. Yet it
is the Congress which is today charged with
failure to settle terms with them. Nationalist
India would welcome them into partnership
with itself on a basis of absolute equality pro-
vided they came as free agents, representing the
will of their people. It refuses to admit them
as a wooden horse of Troy within its body
politic. To describe this attitude as one of
‘ hostility ’, as the Maharaja Saheb of Bikaner has
done in his speech, is surely a travesty of true
facts. The Maharaja Saheb is beating thin air when
he accuses the Congress of wanting to tear up
the treaties of the States like so many scraps
of paper. Nicholson’s Scraps of Paper, surely,
does not refer to the doings of the Congress.
Similarly, far from asking for the abolition of
the States, the Congress has offered the only
solution which will restore to the States a
reality and a vitality which, on their own admi-
ssion, Pax Brittanica has robbed them of, ® and
give to their rulers, as constitutional monarchs,
a status of honourable equality in a free India,
Sevag ram, 8-4-40 Pyarelal
6. Compare the following from a statement from
the Chamber of Princes:
“ Protection ( by the British ) was from the first
no unmixed blessing to them (Princes) as autocratic
rulers... -It detracted from the merits of autocracy as
a system of government. An autocrat justifies his
despotical rule, if he retains his power by his own
personality and ability, but not otherwise.... TAe
* blessing' of external protection removes what is
perhaps the greatest incentive to able administration,-
the ruler's fear of his own subjects, if he does not
give them satisfaction. It is a Greek gift which
indirectly has done more than anything else to keep
the Indian Princes and their States from progressing
at the pace of British India.’* — ( The Crown and the
Indian States, p- 119-120) (Italics mine)
Corrections
In article II of this series in last issue, on
p. 103, col. 1, para 1, line 1, read ‘gyrations,
instead of * gradations and on p. 106, col. 2,
para 2, line 7, read ‘ had ’ instead of ‘ has
Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Dasgupta
1384 pages. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages.
219 illustrations. Price Rs. 5 cloth-bound; By V. P.
P. Rs. 6. Published by Khadi Pratisthan, 15 College
Square, Calcutta. Available at (1) Harijan office —
Poona 4; { 2 ) Harijan office — 81 Queen’s Road,
opp. Marine Lines Station, Bombay 2.
112
HARIJAN
[ May 4, 1940
THE HAND OF THE DEVIL?
Now that the Muslim League has gone beyond
even the expectations of the adepts in the
policy of ‘ divide and rule Lord Zetland
describes the pardtion as “ constitutiog some-
thing not far short of a counsel of despair ”,
and says that its acceptance would be “ an
admission of failure of tbc devoted labours of
Indians and Englishmen alike over a long period
of concentrated effort.” If by “ the devoted
labours of Indians and Englishmen ” he means
the labours of Indians who built up the Indian
National Congress through mere than fifty years,
and of Englishmen like Mr. A. O. Hume, Sir
William Wedderburo, and the last but by no
means the least of them Deenabandhu C. F.
Andrews, his words are absolutely true. Partition
would not only be an admission of failure ” of
those devoted labours, but it would be wanton
destruction of the edifice of unity they have
patiently wrought to erect. But Lord Zetland’s
words have a tragically ironic ring when one
thinks of the endeavours that have been made
“over a long period”, not to unite the two
communities, but to divide them, by those who
were entrusted v^ith the work of consolidating
the Empire.
One wonders if Lord Zetland knows that the
principal authors of the two nations theory
were the Empire-builders of Britain, his
predecessors in the offices that he has one time
or other occupied. We cannot fix the guilt
either of the monstrosity or the originality of
’ the suggestion on Jinnali Saheb. It was con-
ceived and defined by the “ rulers”. The first
of those was Lord Dufferin — there were earlier
ones like Sir Bartle Frere, but they had not
enunciated the theory in such definite terms —
who warned the Muslims against any identifica-
tion with the Hindus in a political objective
and propounded the two nations theory in
these terms:
“Bat perhaps the most patent characteristic of
our Indian cosmos is its division into two mighty
political communities as distinct from each other as
the poles asunder in their religious faith, their his-
torical antecedents, their social organisation and their
natural aptitudes; on the one hand the Hindus
numbering 190 millions with their polytheistic beliefs,
their temples adorned with images and idols, their
veneration for the sacred cow, their elaborate caste
distinctions, and their habits of submission to suc-
cessive conquerors — on the other hand the Mohame-
dans, a nation of 50 millions with their monotheism,
their iconoclastic fanaticism, their animal sacrifices,
their social equality, and their remembrance of the
days when enthroned at Delhi they reigned supreme
from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. ”
It would be difficult to compress in a brief
paragraph more mischievous half-truths than
Lord Dufferin did. Lords Minto and Morley
went a step further by helping to perpetuate the
apparent division. Lord Minto declared any
electoral representation in India as “ doomed to
mischievous failure which aimed at granting a
personal enfranchisement regardless of the beliefs
and traditions of the communities composing
the population of this continent.” It was a
clever way of expressing the theory, but Lord
Morley was brutally frank : “ Only let us not
forget that the differences between Mohamedan-
ism and Hinduism is not mere difference of
articles of religious faith or dogmas. It is a
difference in life, in tradition, in history, in all
the social things as well as articles of beliefs
that constitute a community. Do not let us
forget that in talking of Hindus and Moha-
medans we are. dealing with and are brought
face to face with historic issues.”
Some of the Muslims of those days were easy
disciples of those British tutors, and even proud
giants like Sir Syed Ahmed appealed to the
Mussalmans to look to their communal interests
as against national interests which were illusory.
But it was. reserved, in the words of Maulana
Mahomed Ali, “for General Dyer to break down
entirely the barrier that Sir Syed Ahmed had
for temporary purposes erected more than thirty
years previously, and to summon the Mussalmans
of India to the Congress held at Amritsar in
1919 as the unsuspecting herald of India’s
nationhood. The bullets of his soldiery made no
distinction between Hindu and Muslim, and
clearly Providence had so designed things that
a community even more loyal than the Mussal-
mans. namely our brave Sikh brothers, should
also dye the sacred soil of their religious capital
at Amritsar with their own blood along with
that of Hindu and Muslim martyrs. There is
the hand of God.”
But let me correct Maulana Mahomed Ali in
one or two respects. Even Sir Syed Ahmed had
not thought that the barrier he had recognised
— it had been erected not by him, but by the
English masters as we have seen — could in any
way be permanent. In a speech at Gurdaspur in
1884, he said :
“From the oldest times the word ‘nation’ is
applied to the inhabitants of one country, though
they differ in some peculiarities which are charac-
teristic of their own. Hindu and Mahomedan brethren,
do you people .any country other than Hindustan ?
Do you inhabit the same land ? Are you not burned
and buried on the same soil? Do you not tread
the same ground and live upon the same soil ?
Remember that the words Hindu and Mahomedan
are only meant for religious distinction — otherwise
all persons, whether Hindu or Mahomedan, even the
Christians who reside in this country, are all in
this particular respect belonging to one and the
same country. Then all these different communities
can only be described as one nation; they must each
and all unite for the good of the country which is
common to all.”
In a Lahore speech he went even further and said:
“What we do see is that we inhabit the same
land, are subject to the rule of the same governors,
the fountains of benefit for all are the same, and
may 4, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
113
the pangs of famine also we suffer equally. These
are the different grounds upon which I caJl both
those races which inhabit India by one word, Hindu,
meaning to say that they are inhabitants of Hindustan.
And it must be remembered that it was Sir
Syed Ahmed who used that famous simile — ■
Hindus and Mussalmans being the two eyes of
the same human body, each indispensable to
the other — ■ which later Jinnah Saheb himself
adopted in one of his speeches.
And Maulana Mahomed Ali was less than fair
to the Muslim leaders of pre-Jallianwalla days.
There were men like Justice Badroodin Tyebji
and Mr. Rahimatulla Sayani who whole-heartedly
supported the Congress. But there were men
like Mian Muhammad Shafi who, though they
had not joined the Congress, were anything but
separatists. This is what the Mian Saheb said
at the All India Muslim League meeting in 1913 :
“ Now the Indian Mussalmans consist of two
sections. Firstly those who themselves being descend-
ants of the pre-Aryan aborigines and of the
Aryan settlers in India, were converted -to Islam
during the long centuries of Muslim ascendancy in
this country, and secondly those who are descendants
of the Muslim conquerors from the West. It is
obvious that the former are as much Indians as
our Hindu brethren, and the latter having settled in
India centuries ago and, having made it their per-
manent home, have as vital a stake in the material
prosperity and political progress of their motherland
as any other section of the. Indian population. But
there is, in this' connection, a fact of great
political importance which must not be lost sight
of. The majority of Indian Mussalmans belong to
the agricultural or quasi-agricullural classes, and are
therefore relatively more identified v/ith the permanent
Indian interests than the other classes of our
population. Under these undeniable circumstances, it
is but natural that the warm blood of Indian
patriotism courses through the veins of Indian
Mussalmans with the same vitality as is the case
with those articulate classes whose patriotic spirit
finds loud expression from the public platform and
in the press. ”
There were others like Mr, A. Rasul, Syed
Hassan and Syed Ali Imam, and later Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad. In 1915 the Ali Brothers
cast in their lot with the nationalist Mussalmans.
Jinnah Saheb, whose utterances of an earlier
day we examined the other day, was a disciple
of those Mussalmans who stood for a united
nation. But he is now recanting his earlier
professions, denying his Muslim tutors and evi-
dently going back to the teaching of the British
tutors. He forgets that he is flying in the face
of those experienced Muslim leaders who like
Mian Muhammad Shafi had patiently argued out
and rejected the separatist theory.
As for Lord Zetland, one would respectfully
remind him that the tribe of Dufferins and
Colvins and Mayos is not extinct. Lord Hailey
supports the two nations theory as much as
Lord Zetland professes to disown it. “ The
Mussalmans," he said recently, “ can never forget
that until our arrival in India they ruled the
whole country. They are deeply suspicious
any political development v/hich may place
them under the control of a Hindu majority.
They are not merely a political minority as we
understand it, there are deep-seated social and
cultural differences between them and Hindus,
It is again a fact which counts for much, that
they have religious connections with the warlike
Mohammedan peoples on the frontier and beyond
it.” If, as Maulana Mahomed Ali said, ” the hand
of God ” had worked in Jallianwalla, may it be
that the hand of the Devil is working today ?
Sevagram, 28-4-40 M. D.
Example Belter than Precept
The Junior Maharaja of Dewas has expressed
his active sympathy for khadi — and all village
industries, we presume — in a manner which will
leave no manner of doubt in the minds of State
employees and the people of the State. The
Maharaja, speaking at the Malhar Exhibition on
the 1st of March, said :
“ I have a proposal to place before you regarding
khadi. Next year there should be a stall in the exhibi-
tion exclusively devoted to khadi, khadi goods, and giv-
ing facts and figures showing the advantages of khadi.
This year I had sent Sliri Salcharam Chaudhri to
receive training in the processes of khadi manufac-
ture, and I am glad that he has returned with all
the training that he could get. But I want to
extend the work on a wide scale, and if necessary
I _ may send more people for training. I also pro-
pose to spend an adequate amount on this object.
I would appeal to the Exhibition Committee to
restrict themselves to the use of khadi for all the
cloth that may be necessary in the construction
of the exhibition. This khadi should be woven in,
and prepared from yarn spun in, IDewas, and every-
one in the State should aim at exhibiting here
something of his or her own manufacture. I pro-
pose to place an exhibit myself, and so will all the
members of my family. I hope all people will co-
operate in the fulfilment of this object and will
make of the khadi exhibition as great a success as
they made of the fruit and vegetables show.
I approched in this matter other States in Central
India, but I am sorry to say there was no response.
I therefore have decided to do the thing myself
and set an example.”
Before this, on the 29th January 1940, the
Maharaja had issued the following appeal in
AkJibar Martand, a local paper:
“ Malre Khadi your own.”
“There is an^ English proverb which says, ‘Charity
begins at home,’ and everyone is familiar with the
appeal, ‘ Support Home Industries. ’ Acting on these
adages I would ask all the State officials to dress
themselves in clothes made of khadi, white or
coloured, manufactured in our State. I am speaking
from experience. I use home-made khadi. I shall
be delighted if my example is followed. It will bene-
fit the people, and it will give a fillip to the cottage
industries in the State.”
■We congratulate the Dewas Maharaja on the
thoroughgoing way in which he has taken up
the matter, and we hope others will follow
his example.
Sevagram, 29-4-40 M. D.
il4
KARIJAN
[ May 4, 1940
¥
1
1 Mas? ^
1940 1
OF WHAT AVAIL IS
NOH-VIOLENCE ?
( By M. K. Gandhi )
An Indian friend writes :
“ Yesterday Kealer in patbeiic terms reSated how
the population of Norway under the rain of bombs
and machine gun bullets was fleeting from towns
completely demoralised and in panic. It is shocking
that such good people should so suddenly bo
reduced to this helpless condition simply because they
had neither the will nor the resources to develop
the technique of destruction into a fine art. The
futility of violence, and also, I fear, its temporary
efficacy, is b§ing proved. Of what avail was the
violent defence of Norway ? And yet for the
time being the bigger violence of Germany seems
to have succeeded ! Let us hope eventually everyone
will see the futility of violence and a new era
may dawn. But are we really making a non-violent
contribution to-wards the world problem ? Of what
avail is our non-violence to Norway, Sweden and
Denmark ? Virtually, are we not giving a handle to
Germany ? True, we are doing nothing beyond
embarrassing Great Britain, and perhaps we may
say that such an embarrassment is inevitable and is
not caused deliberately. But the fact remains that
England is in distress and by our action we are
embarrassing not only England but all other good
nations who have been victims of aggression. We are
not likely, it seems, to succeed in changing England's
heart. And victims like Norway etc. can never
appreciate our attitude. In the light of our present
attitude, the international world can with justification
misinterpret our past help to victims of aggression
like China and Spain. Were they more deserving of
our help than the present victims ? And if not, then
why this distinction ? Simply because an imperialist
power, even for the sake of its own interest,
happens to decide to do something which is noble
and moral ! You have never regretted your action
during the last war when you . vigorously recruited
people for military purposes. This time your altitude
appears to be in sharp contrast, although you say
that both attitudes are right.”
correspondent is not alone in bemoaning
the lot of most cultured and inoffensive people
like the Danes and the Norwegians. This war
is showing the futility of violence. Supposing
Hitler becomes victorious over the Allies, he
will never subjugate England and France/ It
will mean another war. Supposing the Allies are
victorious, the world will fare no better. They
will be more polite but not less ruthless, unless
they learn the lesson of non-violence during the
war and unless they shed the gains they have
made through violence. The first condition of
non-violence is justice all round in every depart-
ment of life. Perhaps it is too mucii to expect
of human nature. I do not, however, think so.
No one should dogmatise about the capacity of
human nature for degradation or exaltation.
Indian non-violence has brought no relief to
the cultured Western powers because it is still
poor stuff. Why travel so far to see its
inefficacy? We in India are torn asunder in
spite of the Congress policy of non-violence.
The Congress itself is distrusted. Not until
the Congress or a similar group of people
represents the non-violence of the strong, will
the world catch the infection.
India’s aid to Spain and China was merely
moral. The material aid was but an insignifi-
cant token of it. There is hardly an Indian
who does not feel the same sympathy for
Norway and Denmark who lost their freedom
overnight. Though their case is different from
that of Spain and China, their ruin is more
complete perhaps than that of Spain and China,
Indeed there is a material difference even between
China and Spain. But there is no difference so
far as sympathy is concerned. Pauper India has
nothing to send to these countries except her
non-violence. But as I have said this is not yet
a sendable commodity. . It will be, when India
has gained her freedom through non-violence.
There then -remains Britain’s case. The
Congress has caused no embarrassment. I have
declared already that I shall do nothing to
embarrass Great Britain. She will be embarrass-
ed if there is anarchy in India. That, the
Congress, so long as it is under my discipline,
'^ill not support.
What the Congress cannot do is to lend its
moral influence to Britain. Moral influence is
never mechanically given. It is for Britain to take
it. Perhaps British statesmen do not think the
Congress has any to lend. Perhaps they think
that all they need is material aid in this warring
world. If they do, they will not be far wrong.
Morality is contraband in war. My correspondent
has given up the whole of his case for Britain
when he says, ** We are not likely to succeed
in changing Britain’s heart.” I do not wisli ill
to Britain, I shall grieve if Britain goes down.
But the moral influence of the Congress cannot
avail Britain unless she washes her hands clean
of India. It works under its own unalterable
condition.
My friend does not see* the difference between
my recruiting in Kheda and my attitude now.
During the last war the moral issue had not
been raised. The Congress was not pledged to
non-violence. It had not the moral hold on
the masses it now enjoys. I was acting on my
own in all I did. I had even attended the War
Conference. And to be true to my declaration
I had been recruiting at the cost of my health.
I _toId the people that, if they wanted arms,
military service was the surest way to get them.
But if they were non-violent like me, my appeal
was not to them. There was no non-violent
May 4, 1940 ]
115
HAHIJAIT
man among my audiences so far as 1 knov7.
Their reluctance was based on ill-will towards
Britain. This was gradually giving place to an
enlightened determination to throw off the
foreign yoke.
Things have changed since then. In spite of
the unanimous support that Britain got during
the last v»7ar from India, the British attitude was
translated into the Rowlatt Act and the like.
The Congress accepted aon-vioient non-coopera«
tion to meet the British menace. There is the
memory of the Jallianwala Bagh, the Simon
Commission, the Round Table Conferences, the
emasculation of Bengal for the sake of the mis-
deeds of a few. The Congress having accepted
non-violence, I do not need to go to the people
to give^ recruits. Through the Congress I can
give something infinitely better than a few such
recruits. Of that evidently Britain has no need.
I am willing but helpless.
Sevagram, 30-4-40
AN ENGLISH SUGGESTION
( By M. K. Gandhi )
An English friend writes thus :
“ It is still reasonable at present to proceed on
the assumption that the Muslims would accept some-
thing a good deal less than * Pakistan ’. But the
trouble is that the longer the time that elapses
without any compromise solution being reached, the
stronger and more insistent will be ilic cry for
“Pakistan*, so that in the end civil war or partition
will be the only alternatives, I think the view
held by some that there is nothing to be done
but ‘to wait upon events is fatal. It is up to the
British now to use all their powers of persuasion
and statesmanship to compel the parties to settle.
The crux of the matter is who is to control
power at the Centre — Hindus or Muslims ? Over
this the Congress must be prepared to make
great concessions. The principles of parliamentary
democracy and majority rule must be jettisoned-
They are not applicable when two distinct civilisa-
tions have got to lie down together. Majority
rule from the Muslim point of view will mean or,
at any rate, contain the menace of the dominance
of one civilisation over the other. If the Congress
do not recognize this quickly, I am afraid that
partition will become, if not the only alternative,
the best one — which will give you- an idea of
how bad the other alternatives will be !
«
If the Congress can be brought to see the need
for great concessions on this point, I am sure
compromise solutions can be found. I hold this
necessity to be vital. **
Of course the British Government can do much.
They have done much by force. They can
make the parties come to a solution by force.
But they need not go so far. What they have
done hitherto is to prevent a proper solution.
In proof of my statement I commend the esteemed
correspondent to the columns of Harijan, The
only thing the British Government -have to
do IS zo change their attitude. Will they ? They
can retain their hold ®n India only by a policy of
divide and rule. A living unity between Muslims
and Hindus is fraught v/ith danger to their rule.
It would mean an end of it. Therefore it seems
to me that a true solution will come with the
end of the rule, potentially if not in fact.
What can be done under the threat of Paki-
stan ? If it is not a threat but a desirable goal,
why should ic be prevented ? If it is undesir-
able and mectnt only for the Ivlasiims to get
more under its shadow, any solution would be
an unjust solution. It would be worse than no
solution. Therefore I am entirely for waiting
till the menace is gone. India’s independence is
a living thing. No make-believe will suit. The
whole world is in the throes of a nevy^ birth.
Anything done for a temporary gain would be
tantamount to an abortion.
I cannot think in terms of narrow Hinduism
or narrow Islam. I am wholly uninterested in a
patchwork solution. India is a big country, a big
nation composed of different cultures, which are
tending to blend with one another, each com-
plementing the rest. If I must wait for the com-
pletion of the process, I must wait. It may not
be completed in my day. I shall love to die in
the faith that it must come in the fullness of
time. I should be happy to think that I had
done nothing to hamper the process. Subject
to this condition, I would do anything to bring
about harmony. My life is made up of com-
promises, but they have been compromises
that have brought me nearer the goal. Pakistan
cannot be worse than foreign domination, I
have lived under the latter though not willingly.
If God so desires it, I may have to become
a helpless witness to the undoing of my dream.
But I do not. believe that the Muslims really
want to dismember India.
Sevagram, 29-4-40
Wanton Destruction in Bidar
A correspondent is grieved that I have been
silent about the shocking tragedy in Bidar
( Hyderabad State ). I have before now said in
another connection that because I say nothing
in public about certain wrongs it is not to be
thought that I am oblivious to them or that I am
doing nothing. I must be allowed to judge what
is best under given circumstances. If all I have
heard about Bidar (not all has been published
in the papers) is true, nothing quite like it has
happened anywhere in all India. If Hyderabad
State is not to be given over to lawlessness
and Hindu life and property not rendered value-
less, there should be a thorough and impartial
judicial inquiry commanding confidence, and full
compensation should be given to those who arc
rendered suddenly homeless. It is to be hoped
that Muslim opinion outside Hyderabad will ask
for full investigation into the happenings.
Sevagram, 30-4^0 M. K. G.
116
HARiJAK
[ May 4, 1940
THE AJMER TROUBLE
(By M. K. Gandlii)
Having published the gist of the case of the
Khadi Exhibition organisers about the national
flag incident, I am in duty bound to publish
the following communique of the Commissioner
of Ajmer Merwara on the incident;
" A feature of the celebration by the Ajmer Con-
gress of what is known as the ‘National Week’ has
been an exhibition organised by a committee known
as the ‘ Khadi Gram Udyog Exhibition Committee*.
For this a number of temporary structures have
been erected adjoining the fort on a plot of nazul
landj which is under the control of the Municipal
Committee. Advantage was taken of the fact that
the exhibition attracted large crowds of people to
hold political meetings on a vacant plot between the
exhibition grounds and the entrance to the city
kotwali. At two of these meetings speeches of an
extremely objectionable character were delivered, and
it was evident that the organizers of ihe meetings
who are members of the local Congress were attem-
pting under the pretext of promoting the use of
khadi and village industries in general to bring the
Government into hatred and contempt. The fact that
these seditious utterances were made at a place
adjoining a barrack occupied by constables stationed
at the kotwali was an additional provocation.
Further, the organisers of the exhibition set up a
flag-staff on an outlying bastion of the fort from
which the Congress flag was flown. This bastion is
on Government land and is a part of the kotwali
Police Station. Permission was neither sought for
nor obtained for this act. Apart from the un-
desirability of a party emblem of this nature being
displayed from a Government building, the flying of
the Congress flag from the ramparts of an ancient
Moghul fort, which is a protected monument, caused
grave offence to certain sections of the public.
After satisfying himself by personal inspection as to
the facts, the Commissioner decided to issue two
prohibitory orders to prevent a breach of public
tranquillity. The first order was addressed to the
organisers of the exhibition by name, and it directed
them to remove the flag and flag-staff within one
hour and to refrain from re-erecting it within 400
yards of the fort ramparts. The second order was
a general one prohibiting political meetings under
^e Municipal limits for a period of ten days. The
issue of this order was rendered necessary by the
manner in which certain partisans of the Congress
had abused the opportunity which the holding of
the Khadi Exhibition presented.
As far as the first order is concerned, the indi-
viduals to whom it was addressed intimated in
writing their refusal to comply, whereupon the police
were directed to remove the flag and the flag-staff.
Action is being taken separately regarding the
refusal of the organisers of the exhibition to comply
with the order.”
If the above version is true, the case of the
Exhibition Committee falls to the ground. I
may state that a correspondent claiming to
be impartial sends a letter supporting ' the
version of the Ajmer authorities, I refrain from
expressing any opinion till my investigation
is complete. One thing, however, is clear. The
Commissioner has done everything he can to
incite the Muslims against the Exhibition
Committee, Prejudice against it peeps out through
a portion of the communique. Even if the
facts are as he has stated them, the Commi-
ssioner could have avoided the inflammatory
reference to the ® Moghul Fort Fie knew
that the Exhibition Committee could have no
intention of wounding Muslim susceptibilities.
I have further information that more trouble
is brewing in Ajmer, But of this more when
I have full facts.
Meanwhile let me draw attention to the
reported tactful act of a Commissioner in the
Frontier Province who, when a Congressman
went to his office to hoist the Congress flag^
straightaway hoisted it himself, and hoisted the
Muslim League flag as v/ell, taking care that tne
Union Jack flew the highest of ail. But for
the sense of humour and tact of the Com-
missioner it is difficult to say what v/ould have
happened,
Sevagram, 30-4-40
An Uniudicia! Dictum
A correspondent sends me a press cutting
containing a report of an Allahabad judgment
of two English judges sitting as appellate court.
In delivering their judgment allowing the appeal
their Lordships are reported to have said :
The case is unsatisfactory because we have no
less than five persons who were in effect, if their
evidence can be relied upon, eye-witnesses, and yotg
having regard to the slight value placed upon
truth in this country, wc have seriously to apply
our minds as to whether they can be believed.’’
This is an extraordinary pronouncement from
a bench of judges. What legal basis had these
two judges for the sweeping statement made by
them as to the character of a v/liole nation ?
The inference is that in other countries a
higher value is placed upon truth. Now if
this was a universally accepted proposition,
perhaps the judges would have been justified
in taking legal notice of it. There is, however,
not only no such acceptance but experienced
observers have testified that, on the whole,
greater value is put upon truth in India than
elsewhere. But no judge should be influenced
one way or the other by such observations as
have no judicial value, I would go further and
say that such observations ought not to be
made by any responsible person, even on political
platforms. They can never be proved. But when
they are made by judges they vitiate their
judgments and may lead to miscarriage of justice.
Be it noted that the Allahabad judges have
made use of their bias in coming co their
decision and have thus proved tlieir incapacity
to . hold responsible posts. The case in which
the observation was made affected poor people.
But the fact that only poor persons were
involved makes it all the more necessary to
take public notice of the judges’ strictures.
Who knows in how many cases this bias of
theirs has resulted in defeating justice ?
Sevagram, 2-4-40 M. K. G.
NOTICE
The business hours of our Bombay office are now
8 to 11 A. M. and 3 to 7 p. M. Readers will please
Manager
May 4s 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
11 ?
HINDU MUSLIM TANGLE
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The partition proposal has altered the face of
the Hindu Muslim problem. I have called it
an untrutlis There can be no compromise with
it. At the same time I have said that, if the
•eight crores o£ Maslims desire it, no power on
earth can preveni: it, notwithstanding opposition
violent or non-vioient. It cannoc come by
honourable agreement.
That is the political aspeci: of it. Bat whac
about the religious and the moral which are
greater than the political? For at the bottom
of the cry for partition is the belief that
Islam is an exclusive brotherhood, and anti-
Hindu. Whether it is against other religions it
is not stated. The newspaper cuttings in which
partition is preached describe Hindus as prac-
tically untouchables. Nothing good can come
out of Hindus or Hinduism. To live under
Hindu rule is a sin. Even joint Hindu-Muslim
rule is not to be thought of. The cuttings
show that Hindus and Muslims are already at
war with one another and that they must
prepare for the final tussle.
Time was when Hindus thought that Muslims
were the natural enemies of Hindus. But as is
the case with Hinduism, ultimately it comes to
terms with the enemy and makes friends with
it. The process had not been completed. As if
nemesis had overtaken Hinduism, the Muslim
League started the same game and taught that
there could be no blending of the two cul-
tures, In this connection I have just read ' a
booklet by Shri Atulanand Chakrabarti which
shows that ever since the contact of Islam with
Hinduism there has been a t attempt on the part
of the best mind of both to see the good points
of each other, and to emphasise inherent simi-
larities rather than seeming dissimilarities. The
author has shown Islamic history in India in a
favourable light. If he has stated the truth and
nothing but the truth, it is a revealing booklet
which all Hindus and Muslims may read with
profit. He has secured a very favourable and
reasoned preface from Sir Shafaat Ahmed Khan
and several other Muslim testimonials. If the
evidence collected there reflects the true
evolution of Islam in India, then the partition
propaganda is anti-Islamic.
Religion binds man to God and man to man. Does
Islam bind Muslim only to Muslim and antagonise
the Hindu? Was the message of the Prophet peace
only for and between Muslims and war against
Hindus or non-Muslims ? Are eight crores of
Muslims to be fed with this which I can only
describe as poison ? Those who are instilling
this poison into the Muslim mind are rendering
the greatest disservice to Islam, I know that it
is not Islam. I have lived with and among
Muslims not for one day but closely and almost
uninterruptedly for twenty years. Not one
.Muslim taught me that Islam was an anti-Hindu
.xeligion. Sevagram, 29-4-40
IN THE WAKE OF MEOHANiSA.TION
III
Of this increasing displacement of human
labour and its dire results an example has jusr
come to light from America where, as we said
before, mechanisation of agriculture is proceed-
ing at a very rapid pace. It is described m
an article which appeared last year in an
American Christian weekly, Zions Herald, and
was reproduced in the Christian quarterly World
Ckristianity ( now defunct ) towards the end of
that year. In agriculture, and particularly in
cotton cultivation, in America the system of
having “ share-croppers ” obtained till the grow«
ing mechanisation disturbed it rudely and
brought “in its trail the destitution of share-
cropper families and the consequent human
erosion.*'
‘'Every step towards rationalisation, every advance
in the utilisation of electricity and the automatic
machine diminishes the consequence of the worker.
His skill and experience count each year for a little
less. His numbers are everywhere in excess of the
demand. Industry still requires large, though diminish*
ing, numbers of unskilled, or semi-skilled, ‘hands',
but the expert master mechanic has fallen on evil
days.** ^
Exactly the same thing happened in the case
of these share-croppers whose story has been
narrated by Mark A. Dawber, the author of
the above-mentioned article. ’ “ His condition/*
says the writer, “has been the subject of radio,
movie, and press,” surveys and reports have
been made, “ general pronouncements concerning
America’s economic problem number one have
been released, but the share-cropper remains, his
condition not improved, but growing worse with
every passing day.”
The share-croppers and share-tenants, as their
names suggest, are those skilled cultivators who
do not own the land but raise the crops, a
part of which they receive in return for their
labour from the landowners. The magnitude of
the problem may be realised from the fact that
out of about two million farm families depend-
ent upon the cotton crop for a livelihood.
1,830,000 are share-croppers and tenant-farmers.
The share-cropper family earned $ 38 to 87 a
person per year, and a share-tenant family an
average of $ 73 a person per year. Most of the
share-croppers are Negroes ; most of the
share-tenants are whites. Since 1935, “ thousands
of these have been forced off the land and arc
trying to eke out a living as day labourers and
migrant workers, and the end is not yet.”
“ The sharecropper’s condition has been made
more diflScult, ” says the writer, “ by the intro-
duction of machinery. As a result, thousands
of sharecroppers have been dispensed with and
evicted from the land and the miserable cabins
in which they have lived.”
And what is the prospect that the future
holds out before them ? The narrative goes On :
7 H. N. Braiisford: Op CiU p. 258.
HAEIJAH
i May 4, 1940
m
‘^The future displacement of -sharecroppers when
the mechanical cotton-picker shall have been perfected
33 ^yeli recognized. The serious displacement now in
progress in the wake of the all-purpose farm tractor
has been scarcely noticed. Yet tenant farmers, share-
croppers, and farm labourers — whites and Negroes
alike — are being swept from (.he land and on to
relief in some of the most important agricultural
sections of the country. Planters are dispensing with
their croppers and tenants, retaining the few necessary
to operate the tractors and paying them by the day
when they work. A planter in the Mississippi Delta,
to cite an outstanding example, purchased twentytwo
tractors and thirteen four-row cultivators; he let go
130 our of his 160 cropper families, and retained
the thirty/ for day labour.”
The mechanical tractors and cultivators are
showering their curses in the fullest measure on
these helpless folk, and are bringing in their
wake desolation and despair.
“ The rural landscape is strewn with abandoned
houses, or, as in sections of Kansas with which I
am personally acquainted, the farm homes are being
pulled down to avoid taxes. Residents in western
Texas explain as they point: ‘There used to be ten
cropper families on that farm. The tractor got nine
of them. ’ ‘ That farm has made a living for a
dozen families ever since the land was broke; now
only three are living on it and two are getting
just enough to get by. ’ ‘ The tractors are keeping
our families from making a living.’
The story proceeds in its moving pathos ;
Rural schools decline. Village merchants fail.
Drought and poor cotton prices have undermined
them, and mechanized farming finishes them. Class
bitterness is stirred, and even the government program
intended to benefit the farmer has become an instru-
ment of strife. This is the story of those who have
been dispossessed from the land, the story of the
machine riding ruthlessly over the lives of people,
bringing bitterness and despair. Others not yet
dispossessed are facing the same fate in stark fear.”
Even a worm turns, and it is no wonder that
these families, described as the ‘ victims ’ of
increasing mechanisation of agriculture and of
government crop-adjustment programmes”, make
occasional mass protests, however feeble, against
what has deprived them of not only their
livelihood but of even the opportunity of
honest labour. Here is a description of one
of such groups:
“ This new condition that reduced the sharecropper
to a day-labour status, with no cabin to call his
■own, has created a revolt in certain sections of
the country. In January, during a bitter winter
storm, hundreds of these evicted sharecroppers, in
Missouri, moved along the highway to give demon-
stration against the new economic status in which
they found themselves. Under the leadership of Owen
H. Whitfred, a Negro Baptist minister, more than
a thousand men, women, and children camped along
the two main highways. The march to the high-
ways was called as a protest against the growing
movement in the cotton country to abandon share-
cropping in favour of day labour. The leader of the
movement contended that some landowners had evicted
their renters in order to avoid having to share the
crop benefit payments received from the Gov|rnment.
Men, women, and children camped in the open.
They huddled around camp fires or makeshift stoves
.ialong the desolate rigVits of way, sharing the contents
of the steaming kettles. Most of them were Negroes,
but there was a scattering of white persons. Men
feebio with age, one woman so ill she bad lo be
carried to the highway on a cot, and babies
crjdng from fright and hunger, ail presented a dis-
tressing picture.”
Some philanthropic organisations are now trying
to devise some measures of relief and to find
a solution of their problem by way of rural
rehabilitation and cooperative farm programmes.
IV
It would not be surprising if happenings like
these began to shake the faith of people in
machine economy and its so-called benefits.
Thus, for instance, read against the background
of the above, a little poragrapf) i.hat appeared
in the American weekly, The Nciv RcpvMic, on
27th September 1939, under the heading “ Back
to Handicraft
“ The Farm Security Administration has an interest-
ing policy which it proposes to apply to IS, 000
poor farmers in the northeastern section of the
country. According to Philip Henderson, regional
director of the FSA, these farmers will be taught
to churn their own butter, grind tlicir own flour and
weave their own cloth. lie believes that substantial
savings can be made in the governmental assistance
going to these farmers, who now sell their products
for what they can get and buy their necessities in
the open market.
The Twentieth Century Fund revealed the other
day that, on the average, the producer gets only 40
per cent of the consumer’s dollar; the other 60 per
cent goes to middlemen. Mr. Hendersons 18,000
farmers are paying prices based partly on toe
many small retail stores, on charge accounts,
delivery service, elaborate packaging of staple
products, competitive advertising that is sometimes
wasteful. He is very likely right in saying that
they will be better off financially to churn their own
butter and grind tlieir own flour. But what a coni-
nic-ntary on our civilization ! When tlie machine-
powered creamery was invented, when flour and
textile mills grew to gigantic proportions, they were
hailed as tremendous forward strides for humanity;,
doing away with vast : quantities of isolated, individua!
toil and substituting that of a few men and many
machines. Plere we see the trend toward technologi-
cal efficiency reversed because we haven't enough
collective intelligence to use our machines to seL
us free.”
The movement may be confined to a small
number at present, but there is unmistakably
a swing of the pendulum, and maybe it will
gather momentum with the passage of time
and greater disillusionment following upon eco-
nomic disasters. On us, to whom unemployment
due to mechanisation is not an unknown thing,
events like these reported from the West should
have a sobering effect, and should make us pause
and ponder before we take a plunge towards
widespread introduction of machines and large
scale industrialisation. Let us count the cost ii"*
human misery the country will be made to pay
in the bargain. Let us, at any rate, proceed
with open eyes and look before we leap.
C. S.
NOTin
The Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardba, has
decided to open a regular Flindi Shorthand class at
Wardha from 1st July 1940. Ten candidate^ will
be selected for training. Further information can be
had from the Secretary of the Samiti, Wardha.
May 4, 1940]
HARIJAN
OCCASIONAL NOTES
A Spau-a oS SopMstifies
In the course of bis speech during the recent
7ndia debate in the House of Commons — which,
as Mr. Wedgv 70 od Benn hinted, was staged
primarily for the benefit of the neutral world —
the former Secretary of State for India indul-
ged in sophistries galore. One of these was
that Dominion Status of the Westminster
'^^ariety was one and the same thing as and
identical with Independence, and since it had
satisfied even ardent separationists like Mr,
Tielman Ross and Gen. Hertzog, it ought to
satisfy India too. What Mr. Benn did not say
in his speech but which was the mostly rele-
vant part of the matter was that the status —
whatever its nature — v/hich was accepted
was entirely determined by the accredited
representatives concerned without any pressure
or interference from any alien stake-holders
within the country or from outside. As
Sir Thomas Inskip pointed out when the
question of the status of the Dominions was
discussed in the House of Commons, every single
clause in the proposed draft bill was to be
found '‘word for word and letter for letter in
the schedule to the Report of the Imperial
Conference of 1930.” “It would be a matter
of very grave responsibility,” the Solicitor-
General added, *‘to insert any Amendment in this
Bill which would go contrary to the expressed
desire of any of our Dominions overvseas. ” As
I pointed out last week, the Dominions protest-
ed against and repudiated outright the doctrine
of ‘ trusteeship ’ in inter-imperial relations in the
middle of the Great War. In the case of
South Africa, although its constitution was framed
after what was claimed to be a victory
over the Boers, the British Parliament did
not claim the right even to transpose a
misplaced comma in the draft Bill embodying
. the Union constitution, if South Africa chose to
be ungrammatical. By the same token India to-
day asks for self-determination which is every
nation’s birth-right, and refuses to barter it for
any political concession that Britain might be
inclined to concede. It is for India and India
alone to decide what her constitution shall be and
by what name her status shall be described.
The Past Recalled
Regard being bad to what is going on at
present it is interesting and instructive to
recall what Lord Birkenhead did thirteen
years ago.
The situation briefly was, the ten years’ limit
’fixed by the authors of the Montford Scheme
for determining the next instalment of political
reforms was about to expire. Lord Birkenhead,
- to whom it was “ frankly inconceivable that
India will ever be fit for self-government,”
had on December 4, 1924, already written to
Lord Reading : “ My present view is that we
ought rigidly to adhere to the date proposed in
i’the Act for re-examination of the situation, and
that it is not likely, unless matters greatiy
change in the interval, that such a re-examina-
tion will suggest the slightest extension. In the
meantime, little as I have liked diarchy, obvi-
ously it must be given a chance.”
In January 1925 Lord Birkenhead wrote to
Lord Reading the following memorable words:
“ In ultimate analysis the strength of the British
position is that we are in India for the good of
India. The most striking illustration of the truth
of rbe position is supplied hy the in unite variation
of nationality* sect and religion in the sub-continent.
The more it is made obvious that these antagonisms
are profound and affect immense and irreconcilable
sections of the population^ the more conspicuously
is the fact illustrated that we, and we alone^ can
play the part of composers. “ ( Italics mine )
But developments had in the meantime taken
place both in India and England, and there was
in the offing a chance of the Labour Party
being returned to power at the next elections.
A strange thing then happened. In July 1925,
Lord Birkenhead pompously declared in the
House of Lords that he was “ no slave to dates”
and was prepared to anticipate the date fixed
for the revision of the constitution. On November
8, 1927, Lord Irwin announced the appointment
and composition of the Simon Commission.
This was ostensibly done in response to “ Indian
political pressure to secure anticipation of the
statute”. The real reason however, as is now
established by the publication of private corres-
pondence that passed at that time between
Lord Birkenhead and Lord Reading, was that
the former shrank from the prospect of the
appointment of the Commission being left into
the hands of a possible Labour Government to
come. In a letter dated December 10, 1925,
addressed to Lord Reading, His Lordship deli-
vered himself as follows:
“When I made my speech in the House of Lords
suggesting that it might be possible to accelerate
the Commission of 1928, if some measure of co-
operation were forthcoming in India, I always had
it plainly in mind that we could not afford to run
the slightest risk that the nomination of the 192 B
Commission should be in the hands of our successors..
You can readily imagine what kind of a Commission
in its personnel would have been appointed by
Col. Wedgwood and his friends. I have, therefore*
throughout been of opinion that it would be necessary
for us, as a matter of elementary prudence, to
appoint the Commission not latter than the summer
of 1929. ... I should, therefore, like to receive your
advice if at any moment you discern an opportunity
for making this a useful bargain counter or for
further disintegrating the Swarajist Party. ... The
Swarajist Party at this moment is undoubtedly
torn by divided counsels. The reasonableness of
the attitude disclosed in your speeches and mine
has already inclined many important members of
that party to advocate co-operation. Surely their
number would be greatly augmented if it were known
that they could obtain what the other Swarajista.
HARIJAN
[ May 4, 1940'-
cannot confidently count upon — acceleration. I shall
myself abstain from making any speech which is
m tbs least definite upon these lines until I bear
iffom you. And you would, I think, be well advised
$0 do the same....
But I am sure that, having regard to political
contingencies in this country, we must keep the
nomination of the personnel of this Commission in
our own hands. In this matter we cannot run the
slightest risk. My present view, therefore is — and I
believe that the Prime Minister shares it — that we
shall in any event, playing for safety, be driven
to nominate the Commission in the middle of 1927.
If such an acceleration affords you any bargaining
value, use it to the full, and with* the knowledge
4hat you will be supported by the Government.
C Birkenhead ; The Last Phaser p, 250-51 ). ( Italics
mine. }
The Congress reply to the appointment of
this all-white Commission was to pass a resolu-
tion (Madras, 1927) boycotting it “at every stage
and in every form”. This was a disconcerting
prospect. In a [private letter to Lord Irwin
dated 10th January 1928 Lord Birkenhead wrote:
“ I write to you just before making the journey
to Victoria Station to say farewell to the Simon
Commission. I have persuaded the Prime Minister,
Peel and the Attorney-General to come with me,
30 that the occasion will be invested with as much
importance as we can give it.
I had a long talk with Simon yesterday, and once
again covered the ground which seemed useful. I
told him, and I am sure that you will agree, that
on this first visit, and until the situation clarifies, it
would be wisest to give as few people as possible
t he opportunity of snubbing the Commission. This is
a generalisation with which I am sure you will
agree, but one cannot, of course, in this office,
foresee the development of events with any clearness.
But I had it in my mind that as far as possible
people ^should not on this visit be asked to meet
those who are likely, in the first place to refuse to
do so, and in the second to publish such a refusal
with as much offensiveness as they can command.
A friendly attitude of unobtrusiveness, willingness to
acquire information and make friends, seems to me
clearly indicated. I do not, of course, mean that
where the response is likely to be friendly prelimi-
nary discussion might not take place.
We have always relied on the non-boycotting
Moslems, on the depressed community, on the busi-
ness interests and on many others, to break down
the attitude of boycott* You and Simon must be
the judges whether or not it is expedient in these
directions to try to make a breach in the wall of
antagonism, even in the course of the present visit,”
( Birkenhead : The Last Phase, p, 254 ). ( Italics mine )
Finding, however, that the Commission had
been ' successfully boycotted despite all official
tactics, in February next he again wrote, this
time’ in high dudgeon :
“ 1 should advise Simon to see at ail stages im"
poitant people who are not boycotting the Cormnis-
Sion, particularly Moslems and the depressed classes.
1 she aid widely advertise all his interviews with
lepresentative Moslems. The whole policy now is
obvious. It is to terrify the immense Hindu popu-
lation by the apprehension that the Commission is
being got hold of by the Moslem support, and leav^
ing Jinnah high and dry'" ( Birkenhead : The Last
Phase, p. 255) [Qaid-e-Azam was then opposed to
the Commission. ] ( Italics mine )
Many readers will remember how every inter-
view was advertised and [how deputations were
arranged and magnified through the favoured
Press,.
Further lines of cleavage were suggested to
the Viceroy by His Lordship in the course of
the same letter :
“ You will remember that in dealing with the
question of the Indianisation of the Indian Armya
His Majesty's Government were averse from using
the phrase ‘Dominion Status’ to describe even the
ultimate and remote goal of Indian political develop-
ment, because it has been laid down that Dominion
Status means ‘the right to decide their own destinies \
and this right we were not prepared to accord to
India at present, or in any way to prejudge the
question whether it should ever be accorded. I think
it is fair to infer from this that separatism should
be regarded as a hostile movement, and if that is
so, its representatives ought not to be treated in
the same way as the representatives of other political
movements, which, though they may be unreasonable
or ill-timed, are not illegitimate. It is a constant
complaint of our friends in India that they are
rendered impotent by the encourjgement that is
given to our and their enemies.”
Sevagram, 28-4-40 • Pyarela!
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 7 As. Available at Harijan office-Poona 4,
and 67 & 81 Queen's Road, Bombay 2.
CONTENTS
Page
Question Box '
M.
K. Gandhi
109
P RINCELY EXTRAVAGANZA-III
Pyarelal
110
The Hand of the Devil ?
M. D.
112
Of What Avail Is Non-
Violence ?
M.
K. Gandhi
114
An English Suggestion ...
M.
K. Gandhi
115
The Ajmer Trouble
M,
K. Gandhi
116
PIiNDU Muslim Tangle
M.
K. Gandhi
117
In the Wake of
Mechanisation IV-V ...
c. s.
117
Occasional notes
Pyarelal
119
Notes :
Example Better than
Precept
M. D.
113
Wanton Destruction
IN Bidar
M. K. G.
115
An Unjudicial Dictum
M. K. G.
Il6
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EdSaop : MAHADEV DESA8
VoL. vni, No. 13 ] POONA — SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
A OKE-SIDSD INQUIRY
( By M. K. Gandhi )
I had hoped that I would not have to say
anything on Justice Nagesvara Iyer’s report
into the allegations of ill-treatment of satyagrahi
prisoners in Mysore. But the press criticism of
the action of the State Congress in abstaining
from participation in the inquiry demands an ex-
planation from me. If it was wrong for the State
Congress not to participate in the inquiry, the
blame was mine. The inquiry was a result of
Mahadev Desai’s visit to Mysore at the instance
of the Dewan and the former’s confidential
report to me of which a copy was given to
the Dewan. Mahadev Desai had recommended
an open judicial inquiry presided over by a judge
of known integrity brought from outside. Instead
there was only a departmental inquiry by a
Mysore judge. I have been for some time guiding
the Mysore Congress, and the Congress acted
upon my advice in not leading evidence before
a Mysore judge who could not, I felt, be wholly
impartial in judging the conduct of officials
with whom he must have come in close official
contact. It was too much to expect an impartial
scrutiny by one who had risen to the rank of
a judge from being a Government official.
The allegations were of a most serious chara-
cter, and they were repeated in the presence
of Mahadev Desai and before officials occupying
the positions of Deputy Commissioner. District
Superintendent of Police, Superintendent of Jail
and so on. Those who made the allegations were
volunteers, not criminals, and a few of them
held high social positions. It is impossible to
treat them as liars, as the report seems to
have done.
I am not yec in possession of the Judge’s
report. What I have before me is a highly
tcndencious summary of the report published by
Government, interspersed by Government’s own
statements of certain happenings and Justice
Nagesvara Iyer’s comments on them in his
report. It passes comprehension that the inquiry
was continued when the complainants refused
to appear before the officer. The judge should
have dismissed the case for want of evidence.
How he could have arrived at definite
conclusions in the absence of material evidence
it is difficult to say. The judge admits that
“most of the persons who made accusations of
assault and torture did not attempt to establish
those charges,’’ but that he “had a large volume
cr crai t'.nd dccunjeAtaiy evidence” adduced
before him. What this “documentary” evidence
was we do not know. The oral evidence was
of people who had nothing to do with the in-
quiry but were dragged by the police before the
judge to prove the Government case. The judge
says he has based his conclusions “ on such
materials and broad probabilities”. This is hard-
ly the language of a judge. No judge of inte-
grity and impartiality would have cared to go
into the extraneous evidence that Justice Nage-
svara Iyer went into, and made uncalled for
animadversions against satyagrahis for refusal to
give evidence before him, when he knew that
their reason in doing so was that they ques-
tioned the competence, independence and im-
partiality of the judge. Two paragraphs in the
communique are devoted to proving that the
leaders of the movement adopted questionable
methods of sending out surreptitious letters from
jails. What this has to do with allegations of
torture one is at a loss to know. It would
thus appear that, far from the inquiry being
into any allegations by Congressmen, it became
an inquiry into allegations by Government officials
which the judge has supported without giving
those against whom the allegations were made
an opportunity to rebut them.
My point, however, in referring to the un-
fortunate inquiry is that the Mysore Congress
acted under my advice. The judge’s biassed
finding confirms me in the soundness of the
opinion I gave them. As satyagrahis, the mem-
bers of the Mysore Congress were not interested
in the guilty parties being condemned. They
were interested in the truth being known. The
golden lid of the one-sided inquiry covers the
truth. But they should have the truth that the
lid will be lifted one day and the truth will
be found. The exoneration of the nffiriglc may
result in the hardening of their hearts and
greater maltreatment of the prisoners t-hgn
before. If such is the case, the prisoners should
rejoice in their suflFerings and know that, if they
bear them without malice, they will bring the
local Congress nearer its goal.
Sevagram, 7-5-40
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1
1
r'
1940
OUR CASTES
1 .happened to preside over a conference of my
castemen in Surat the other day, and friends
were surprised that I should have consented to
do so in spite of my life being a fiat contra-
diction of any kind of belief in caste By
caste, by the by, I do not mean vama or the
four functional and occupational divisions of
Hinduism, but the multitude of sub-divisions of
these varnas which may originally have had
some correspondence with guilds, but which
later were encrusted with ail manner of restric-
tions and limitations on marriage, social inter-
course, and eating and drinking together. The
caste I was born in, is one of the numerous sub-
divisions of the original division of Brahmanas,
and a few among us still observe, as against other
sub-divisions and other Hindus, the restrictions
I have mentioned. Before I consented to preside
over the conference I made it clear to the
friends who pressed me to do so that I held
very strong views on the matter, and that I
should be of little use to a conference of
castemen. But I was told that it was to listen
to those very views that they had invited me,
and that I was free to say to them whatever
I liked.
There were, therefore, certain things I made
absolutely clear in my address. I said that even
varna as it -obtained today was a travesty of
the original conception, and that the numerous
sub-divisions were still worse travesties, that
even the original varna was a functional social
division, that there was no superiority or in-
feriority attaching to the various functions, and
that in ancient India there was plenty of inter-
mixture by marriage and there were no restric-
tions on interdining. I also explained that caste
seemed to‘ me to have arisen out of the
economic exigencies of the time, that it was
essentially feudal in character, and that it
certainly had nothing to do with religion.
I also explained that, whilst we called ourselves
Brabmanas, few only performed the func-
tions of Brahmanas or had any of the quali-
ties of the head and heart that are said to
be the natural attributes of Brahmanas, and that
Hindus of all varnas and castes could be fitly
described only as Shoodras, if indeed they cared
to apply the label of a varna to themselves.
I also told them that, so far as our present
practice went, many of us privately and some
even publicly were infringing all the restrictions
on interdining and even to a certain extent
the restrictions on intermarriage. It was there-
fore no use pretending that any restrictions were
being observed. All castes were, therefore, no
better than convenient social groups. Those
groups existed in all societies' cyen in the West
where there were no castes, and some kind of
grouping will continue to exist until the end
of time, but then it should hot be allowed to
exist as anything but a social grouping. Sidney
Low has said in his Vision of fndia : The
crudities and cruelties of the caste system need
not blind us to its other aspects. It provides
every man with his place, his career, his occu-
pation, his circle of friends. It makes him, at
the outset, a member of a corporate bodji^ :
protects him through life from the canker of
social jealousy and unfulfilled aspirations; it
ensures him companionship and a sense of com-
munity with others in like case with himself.
The caste organization is to the Hindu his club,
his trade union, his benefit society, his philan-
thropic society.” This is true, and to the extent
that it serves as a club or a benefit society or
a philanthropic society it serves a useful func-
tion and shoulders part of the social burden of
India. If Bhatiyas, for instance, looked after the
social, educational and medical needs of their
own group, that meant so much the less burden
on India. And if castes took upon themselves
the task of self- purification by purging them-
selves of all ugly customs and practices, it
would mean fulfilment of part of the duty that
Hinduism owes to itself and India.
The corollary from this was the obvious one
that castes could exist only to the extent that
they were not anti-social and to the extent
that they subserved the national ideal, and
remained only as convenient social groups.
They may have their own educational institu-
tions, but they should be flung open to all
Hindus including Harijans, restriction on the
number of those outside the group being allow-
ed. They need not convert themselves into
political groups and address themselves, as such,
to political activities any more than Labour
Unions, or Kisan Sabhas, or such other groups
do; but even their existence in a restricted
character would be futile if they did not
support the activities of the Congress, especial-
ly its constructive programme. At any rate
I could serve no useful purpose as their presi-
dent if our castemen could not decide to make
that contribution.
For two days we discussed the position, and
I am glad to be able to say that the Confer-
ence passed two resolutions of a far-reaching
character, so far as the institution of “ caste ”
goes. I have gone into the question in some
detail because what I said at Surat applies to
all the thousand and one castes in Hinduism
which arc today so many stagnant pools or
stinking wells and have got to be dredged and
purified in order that they may be so many
rivers contributing their share to the ocean
of Hinduism. Here arc the two resolutions :
** 1. Whereas all the castes in Hinduism, though
claiming to be based on religion, have really nothing
.to do with religion but are only convenient social
groups, this conference resolves that it should be
the goal pf the Anavil community to purge itself
of all the ugly practices obtained therein and to
merge' itself into the great comnunity of Hindus;
this conference also resolves that it accepts the
Congress goal of the attainment of independence by
means of truth and non-violence, and that all the-
activities of the community will, far from being
123
prejudicial to the goal, contribute to the attainment
of that goal.
2. This conference accords its hearty support to
the constructive programme of the Congress, viz.
khadi and village industrieso abolition of untouch-
ability, communal unity, prohibition, and appeals to
ail the members of the community to make a solid
contribution to the cause of the Congress by carry-
ing out ail these items in their daily life.”
Though these resolutions were passed by an
overwhelming majority, there being only two or
three dissentients to the first resolution, I do
not pretend to believe that the conference in
any way represented the 50,000 odd people des-
cribing themselves as Anavil Brahmans and living
in a few hundred villages of the Surat district.
But they strike a new departure and, if every
village can adopt the resolutions, it would mean
a great step forward. Whatever may be the
case, they indicate the direction of reform for
all the groups known as “castes” in India.
There were a number of other resolutions also
dealing with the particular social abuses in the
community — dowry system, forced gifts of money
and material by parents of the bride to the
parents of the bridegroom, both before and
after marriage, and so on. The conference
labelled these as barbarous and shameful, and
appealed to young men and women, not yet
married, to sign pledges to have nothing to
do with these practices. There were resolutions
appealing to the members to preserve the reli-
gious character of various ceremonies by refusing
to burden them with pomp and wasteful expendi-
ture, and also appealing to parents and guardians
to encourage marriages of child-widows, and to
afford all facilities to grown-up widows intend-
ing to marry again. There was, however, nothing
distinctive about these resolutions, and all
communities do have resolutions nowadays on
these or similar lines.
Sevagram, 7-5-40 M. D.
GANDHIJI’S .
When Gandhiji was shown Reuter’s cable of
Sir Hugh O’Neill’s statement, he said his posi-
tion was absolutely clear. The only authority
that can possibly convene a preliminary con-
ference of elected leaders is the British Govern-
ment, and they will do so and find out the
ways and means when they have made up
their mind to part with power and recognise
the right of India to frame the charter of her
own freedom.
Sevagram, 3-5-40
NOTICE ^
The Central Office of the Harijan Sevak Sangh
will award a few scholarships to Harijan girls from
Bihar, U. P. and Rajputana studying in high school
classes. A few scholarships are also available for
Harijan students going in for vocational and indus-
trial study from various provinces and states.
Applications for the same will be received on or
before IQth June 1940 on prescribed application
forms which can be had from the Office of the
Harijan Sevak Sangh, Kingsway, Delhi.
' Shyamual,
Asst. Secretary, Harijan Sevak Sangh
^, 177 r'i nr'-- , - t ' j -'
^ U /JjO ^ -C-
( By M. K. )
Kindu-Muslim
Q. You can do Harijan work, you can orga-
nise khadi and village industries, bur when it
comes to Hindu-Muslim unity, you find many
excuses for not organising it.
A. This charge has been brought against me
by several Muslim correspondents unknown to
ooeo But larterly It has been repeated with
considerable by who knows me
intimately. The complainant challenges me to
deal with the charge in Harijan. There can be
no comparison between Harijans and Muslims.
I owe a debt to Harijaiis in need of any assist-
ance that can be given to them, Harijan work
is humanitarian work. Muslims stand in no need
of my humanitarianism. They are a powerful
community standing in no such need. Any work
done for Muslims after the Harijan style will be
resented. To cite khadi and village industries
against me is thoughtless. These can be organised
and are organised for all who will care to profit
by them. As a matter of fact both Hindus and
Muslims, and indeed others too, profit by these
activities. Hindu-Muslim unity stands on its own
footing. I have tried and am still trying to do
my share of the work. I may have achieved no
visible success, but I have no doubt that the
direction in which I am working is the right
one and is bound to lead us to the goal,
Bidar an^ Biba^
Q. You feel keenly about Bidar. You ask for
justice about it and you want Muslims outside
Hyderabad to see that justice is done. Do you
feel equally keenly if Muslims are ill-treated as
they were in Bihar?
A. I do not know what the exact reference
to Bihar is. All I can say is that not one
single case of maltreatment of Muslims by
Hindus having been reported to me has remain-
ed without investigation by me. This has been
my practice since the days of the Khilafat. I
have not always succeeded in finding the truth
or of giving satisfaction to the aggrieved parties
that I had done my best. The Bihar charge is
too vague to be answered more fully. If a
particular instance were mentioned, I should be
able to say what I had done about it. But
supposing that I had failed in my duty to do
justice, supposing further that I did not “feel
equally keenly about Hindu injustice to Muslims”,
would that justify indifference about Bidar? I
have said that there is nothing like Bidar in
all the previous cases of Hindu-Muslim clashes,
assuming of course that the allegations we made
were true. All I have asked is that full justice
and reparation should be made through a tribunal
admittedly impartial. My proposal in the case of
Bidar should be applicable to all such cases.
Sevagram, 6-5-40
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 7 As. Available at Harijan office-Poona 4,
and 67 & 81 Qneen’s Road, Bombay 2.
AJMER
(By M. K. Gandhi)
As soon as I read- the extraordinary commu-
nique of the Commissioner of Ajmer, I asked
for proof from the workers in Ajmer in sup-
port of their charges. It seems to me that in
every single particular the charges are supported
by documentary evidence. I have now in my
possession copies of the relevant documents
including a blue-print showing where the so-
called Ajmer fort is, where the wall on whose
bastion the Congress flag was flown, is. The
statement giving a categorical denial of all the
allegations of the Ajmer Commissioner is pub-
lished below. From it, it would appear that the"
Commissioner is prejudiced against the Congress.
1. The ground including the wall and a
portion behind it is in the possession of the
Municipal Council as lessee.
2. Permission was duly received by the khadi
workers for the use of the ground for exhibition.
3. No separate permission for flying the flag
is or has ever been considered necessary.
4. The Municipal Council even voted Rs, 51
towards the expenses of the exhibition.
5. The Ajmer fort is a well-defined struc-
ture. It is at present used for the kotwali, etc.
It is undoubtedly a protected monument and in
possession of the Government. The outer wall
is dilapidated and is included in the ground
leased to the Municipal Council and is going to
be demolished by them.
6. There was no complaint brought before
the workers against the hoisting of the flag on
the wall. It could give no offence to anybody.
The Ajmer Council contains Muslim members.
The decision to give permission to hold the
exhibition on the ground was unanimous.
Muslims freely visited the exhibition. Well-known
Muslims attended the party given to Seth
Jamnalalji although they knew that the flag was
hoisted on the outer wall. .
I have seen many denials by officials of un-
comfortable popular charge sheets. But it is
hard to beat the unblushing distortions by the
■Commissioner of Ajmer. He has not added to
British prestige. If ever a case was clearly made
out for civil disobedience, surely the Ajmer one
is such a case. I refrain because of the turbid
atmosphere and because I wish to take no
action that will precipitate a crisis. The workers
in Ajmer have done well to exercise self-
restraint in the face of the gravest provocation.
This case demands serious notice by the Central
authority. In my opinion nothing short of the
removal of the Commissioner from the high
office he occupies will meet the requiremerus
of justice.
It may be argued that the Commissioner of
Ajmer is no worse than many such officials who
do much worse things with impunity, me
argument ■ is sound. But many thieves escape
with impunity because of want of conclusive
evidence. When, however, one is caught red-
handed, it is well to deal with him and give
satisfaction to the injured public. Lord Curzon
had his grave limitations. But he believed in
justice being done and eberefore had no hesita-
tion in acting sternly and promptly when a
proved case came under his observation. Preven-
tion of civil disobedience, I believe, is common
cause between the Government and the Congress.
The latter will resort to it when it is clearly
inevitable, if, that is to say, the Congress is
ready, I am leaving no stone unturned to
prevent it. But if the executive officials behave
as the Ajmer Commissioner seems to have done,
no effort on my part may prevent a conflagra-
tion.
On the 29th ultimo, being the last Sunday ot
the month, all over the country there was
Jhandci Vandan. In Ajmer too the Congress had
advertised the function to take place in the
Town Hall compound. But this time the
Commissioner, who is also the District Magis-
trate, prohibited the use of the Town Hall
compound for the purpose. It is debatable
whether he had any legal right to prohibit the
use of the municipal ground in the manner he
did. But for the moment it is not relevant. The
fact of the issue of the order is relevant to
show the bias the Commissioner has against the
Congress. The matter was referred to me by
the telephone, and I advised the Congressmen
to obey the order and not attempt to hold the
meeting even elsewhere. But if the Commissioner
is intent upon provoking a quarrel, I suppose
he will not be happy till he has succeeded.
Sevagram, 6-5-40
[The following is the statement referred to
in the foregoing. Ed. Hakijan]
1. The exhibition was organised by the Raja-
sthan Charkha Sangh and not by the Ajmer
Congress as suggested in the communique. The
grounds on which the exhibition was held are
in possession of the Municipality. Whether
they arc Nazul or not is irrelevant. Permission
was duly taken from the Municipal Committee
for the use of the ground. A portion was
utilised for the exhibition proper and the remain-
ing portion was fitted with loud speakers for
holding public meetings in connection with the
exhibition.
. 2. The Commissioner, who is also District
Magistrate, has throughout been hostile to
national activity. For instance, he demanded
security even for issuing a khadi patrika, a pro-
cedure never adopted anywhere. He would not
allow, the use of the Anasagar Bund for a. party
to be held in honour of Seth Jamnalal Bajaj.
May li, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
3. Only three public speeches vreie made in
connection with the eshibition and not for
political purposes. The Srst meeting was in
connection with the opening ceremony performed
by Seth Jamnalai Bajaj. Ssthji spoke on khadi,
and also pointed out the unhappy position of
Ajmer Merwara. He criticised the mentality of
the Commissioner, who is also the District
Magistrate, in demanding security for publishing
the khadi patrika. I also spoke. I drew attention
to the editorial note published in Tlte Hindustan
Times, and said that it was established beyond
doubt that Mr. Hallowes was suffering from
neurosis. I criticised the two acts of the Com-
missioner. Next day, another meeting was addressed
by Shrimati Parvati Devi Deedwania, a prominent
Congress worker of Delhi and an ex-president
of the Delhi Congress Committee. She spoke
on khadi generally but made a particular refer-
ence to the happening of the Jallianwala Bagh
and exhorted the audience to obtain freedom
for India. I deny that the speeches were
inflammatory.
4. The exhibition grounds were situated out-
side the boundaries of the police kotwali but
adjacent to it. The police barracks are also
situated inside the kotwali.
5. The flag was no doubt hoisted on a
bastion on an old outer wall surrounding the
Moghul Palace. This wall is on Government land,
but this land, including the wall, has been leased
by Government to the Municipality and, is under
the possession of the Municipality. The Munici-
pality has been lending its use to different
associations for holding tournaments and had
allowed the municipal staff club to utilize it as
their sports ground. This last step was objected
to by the Commissioner not on the ground
that the land was not in the possession of the
Municipality but because it “luas made over to
the Municipal Committee by the Government for
the purpose of a public garden.” Mr. Hallowes
himself says in this letter, “ These are the terms
on which it was leased to the Municipal Com-
mittee. ” As far back as 1938, the Municipal
Chairman ( who was Mr. Burtt, Superintending
Engineer, Punjab, nominated by the local Govern-
ment) suggested that the wall should be
demolished in order to enable the Municipality
to extend the magazine garden. His suggestion
was accepted by the Commissioner who, after
consulting the Superintending Engineer, New
Delhi, informed the Committee that the rampart
could be demolished.
6. The wall does not form part of the
kotwali police station. It is altogether an outer
wall outside the main wall of the Moghul
Palace and wholly unconnected with it. If demo-
lished, it will not expose the kotwali which is
'.surrounded by the main wall as shown on the
plan. Even the police witnesses have not said
that the wall is a part of the kotwali.
7. No separate permission for hoisting the
^National Flag has been ever required. The
National Flag is a component part of all nation-
al activities. The flag was hois-red in the
previous khadi exhibition held sin months ago in
the Town Hal! grounds which are also under
the control of the Municipality. The question
of seeking permission from Governmer-c for hebt-
ing the National Flag on the wall, therefore,
does not arise.
8. The wall on which the flag was hoisted
is not at ali the rampart of the “ancient
Moghul Focz” as has be.-.:; claimed. A's a matter
of fact, the ancient Moghul Fort was not a fort
but the fortified palace of Emperor Akbar. It
was converted into an arsenal by the British
Government and was fortified during the mutiny
of 1857. It is at present used as Tehsildar’s
courts, S. P. C. A. Refuge, veterinary hospital,
and museum, etc. No sanctity attaches to the
wall ; otherwise Mr. Burtt would never have
requested the Government for permission to
demolish it on the ground that it was “ of no
historical importance”. Had it been considered
a “ protected monument”, the Superintending
Engineer, Government of India, would certainly
have taken objection to the suggestion and
would not have agreed to its demolition. The
opinion of the Superintending Engineer was
endorsed by Mr. Hallowes himself [as mention-
ed in (1) above]. The fort inside is a protect-
ed monument, but not the rampart wall whose
demolition has been allowed by the Government,
9. The flag itself could not cause any offence
to anybody. The National Flag has been hoist-
ed in Ajmer on so many occasions, several times
in the Town Hall grounds, but no objection
was ever taken on the pretext of annoyance.
10. Muslims attended the opening ceremony
and visited the exhibition in very large numbers.
Some prominent Muslims attended the garden
party given to Seth Jamnalai Bajaj. The National
Flag was fiying on the wall all the time. No
complaint was received from the Muslims or
from anybody by the organisers of the exhibi-
tion about the National Flag. Among the
Muslims who attended the garden party were
Maulvi Abdul Rashid, Junior Vice-Chairman of
the Ajmer Municipality and a Municipal Com-
missioner elected on the Muslim League Ticket,
and Messrs Zahural Hassan and Abdul Aziz
Khan, both Municipal Commissioners.
11- The Municipal Committee unanimously
passed a resolution contributing Rs. 51 for the
khadi exhibition. The Muslim League members
of the Municipality also supported the resolu-
tion. The relations between the communities
have been generally happy. It is wholly wrong
for the Commissioner to suggest that the flying of
the flag from the “ ramparts of an ancien t
Moghul Fort which is a protected monument “
caused grave offence to a certain section of
the public.
Krishna Gopal Garg
Secretary, Khadi & Village Industries
Exhibition, Ajmer
ll ASI J* AS
[ may il, 1940
12 '^
OCCASIONAL SOTES
Th© Ck'kx of the Maiteir
The latest issues of the Hansard received by
air mail bring to light severs? aspects of the
recent India debate in the Parliament of which
the carefully edited summaries cabled by Reuter '
gave one no idea. For instance, it is interesting
£0 learn that a thinking and by no means
uninfluential section of the Hoiise has begun
to show a growing appreciation of the Indian
demand for Independence. Sir George Schuster
made it quite clear in his speech that the only
reasonable course for Britain was to leave it to
India alone to decide as to how her future
constitutional status shall be known. Not only
that, it should be England’s concern to set
India on her own foundations in the world*
I care very little,” he observed, “ as to
whether the words used by the Indians are
Independence or Dominion Status, because, if
we face realities, it must be clear that, if India
reaches a stage in her own development
when she is strong enough to stand on the
foundations of her own strength in the world,
then nothing can keep her bound within the
British Commonwealth, if the united wish of
the Indian people is to withdraw. What
meaning has Dominion Status as a barrier ? I
am quite prepared to face that and more than
that, I am prepared to say that we should do
all we possibly can to help India to acquire
the strength to stand on her own foundations
in the world.” But of course,” Sir George
went on to remark, “ having said that,
Indians cannot expect us to say we look
forward to the independence of India as a
goal, because our hope must be that, though
capable of independence, she should remain of
her own free will a member of the British
Commonwealth.” Sir George claims himself to
be a shrewd realist. But one cannot help feel-
ing that for once, at any rate, old Homer has
been found nodding ! Nationalist India has never
held that independence excludes free association
with Britain; on the contrary our contention
all along has been that it is a necessary step
towards it. Britain, by identifying herself with
India’s cherished political aspiration will not be
negativing her own ideal of a free Common-
wealth of nations, as Sir George fears. On the
contrary, thus alone can be forged bonds which,
as a British statesman remarked at the Imperial
Conference of 1916, had need to be " while
stronger than steel,* as light as silk” and which
alone can hold Britain and India together.
The crux of the question that faces Britain
today really is not whether India is to have
her independence or not,- but .whether Indian
independence is to come through the willing
recognition of Britain or. in the teeth of her
opposition.
' A Welcome Note
Sir Stanley Reed’s speech, while containing
aeveial obsexvations that invite a challenge^
struck the right note when he remarked :
“ I urge with all the emphasis I can that v;e ■
should not be lulled into a sense of false optimism by
the comparative quiescence of political feeling in the
last six months, but rather seize this opportunity to
press on with any conceivable scheme which will
bring the parties together and lay down the princi-
ples of a constitution which can be worked,”
It is essential, ” he continued, that this House
should make up its mind that this work must be
done in India by an elected body, carrying the
confidence of all classes and all major interests.
Equally welcome was the admission that the
initiative in this respeoc had i:‘o come from
Britain. After referring to the various alterna-
tive proposals for setting up a machinery to
apply the principle of self-determination to India,;.
Sir Stanley proceeded:
“ I would urge that no stone should be left
unturned to get together some body in India,
representing as wide interests as possible, to sit
down and grapple with this matter. I think we
should say that we are not in the least frightened
by the bogey of Independence aMiough we ask
Indian politicians to look East and^ West and North,
and say what that ‘ Independence ’ would be worth,
without association with the Commonwealth, and to
give the definite assurance that if there is a sub-
stantial measure of agreement in India on the basic
changes in the constitution, tliis Parliament will nut
hesitate, even amid the preoccupations of the war.
or with a time limit of not more than 12 months
after the termination of Ihe war, to implement these
conclusions in an Act in full confidence and with
the hope that it will lead, as we believe it will, to
the greater prosperity and contentment of that land.’
Sophistries Ai^swered
It was. however, left to Mr. Sorensen to clinch
the issue with regard to Indian independence,
A spate of sophistries had been indulged in.
during the debate, by the former Secretary of
State, Mr. Wedgwood Benn, and others. The
former had even tried to make the neutral
world believe that Dominion Status of the
Westminster variety was identical with Indepen-
dence, and that it was sheer unreasoning obsti-
nacy on India’s part to have rejected the same,
Mr. Sorensen challenged the honesty of that
statement. It was a question of plain morality,
so far as England was concerned, to unhesitat-
ingly concede India’s claim to full independence :
”The Under Secretary of State said quite categori-
cally that India could never expect independence ....
I am not a lawyer, but I rather understand that
from the days when the Statute of Westminster-
was passed it has been possible for some of our
Dominions to claim such sovereign rights that they
can entirely secede from organic connection with the
rest of the Empire. If there is that possibility
under the Statute of Westminster, will the Under
Secretary say so ? ... I quite agree tliat words can
be used to mean anything or nothing .... Some people-
use the word * Independence ’ in a far less rigid
sense than others, and * Dominion Status ’ is so*
ambiguous that it may mean something in this
House and something else to people outside. I think,
it should be frankly recognised that Indians will
insist Ion securing independence according to their
own interpretation, and surely we wish for nothing
else. If we wish for anything else, we are acting
wholly inconsistent with our professions in this war.*^’
May 11, 1940 ]
T, -'f 7
He gave no quarter to tiiose ^rho were inclined
to exploit the coromnnai problem. “It must be
recognised/* he gently pointed our, ''that there
■ are some people who are a little overeager to
seize on the admitted communal difficulties in
India as an excuse either for refusing any fur-
rher deveiopmeni towards Indian self-government
or for justifying their claim that independence
can nex^er be granted to India because of internal
disruption and other dangers.” Applying the
criterion of India's status with regard to the
War, to the question under debate, Mr, Sorensen
proceeded :
“ Whatever may be our views, Tand even though
'vve may have profound regret that India is not
acting in the way we would like her to do, that
is not the point. The point is that India is a free
people in her own mind, if not legally. Rightly or
wrongly, she has come to the conclusion that she
was not consulted at the beginning of the war and
yet was involved in it, and that whatever may be
xhe lip service we pay to freedom in India, we do
not intend to treat India as a sovereign nation able
by her own volition to decide, as other Dominions
do, her own coarse of action in the future. We
have to go a long way yet in order to appreciate
what that standpoint means. It is natural for us,
because we are British and not Indian, to feel that
India should not have taken this course, but if
we brush Indian opinion on one side merely because
it is not our opinion, virtually we do the same
thing as has been done to Denmark, Norway,
Finland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Those countries
have been dominated by an alien will and have been
told that they must accept the position for their
own good, or because it is a natural*' necessity of
.'the situation. These countries resent that.
The Indians are in the same position. They say
^that whatever the English may feel about the matter
and whatever plausible or genuine explanations the
English may advance, the fact remains that the
Indians are under an alien will, and the British
are determined that they shall remain under
it. Judging from certain statements made by
the Under Secretar 3 ^ this afternoon, - it would
seem as if we are going to say to the
Indian people: * You shall be free provided you
agree with us, and so long as you do not claim
the right to secede from the British Empire; when
you do or intend to do that, you shall not be free.*
We would not tolerate such action by Germany
towards Denmark. I have a natural interest in
Denmark as my name indicates, Denmark will never
tolerate Germany saying ultimately, ‘ You shall be
free provided you do not wish to break away from
our domination over you. ’ That is precisely the
position in India, and the more we appreciate it
the better.”
These were the utterances of no irresponsible
firebrand with extra-territorial loyalties, or a
fifth columnist saboteur. Underlying them was
a burning patriotism and love of democracy
which was exceeded only by an abhorrence of
Nazism and all that it stands for. It was the
outspokenness of a patriot who sincerely believ-
ed that it was a war of principles his country
was engaged in, and that to defeat Nazism
*^broad it was necessary that England should
renounce Nazi methods at home first.
“ It may be said, ** remarked Mr. Sorensen, that
I ought not to say these things because they will
be used by the enemy. But surely we have not
come to the stage where, through ?aar of our -voice
being misinterpreted or maliciously' aged by the
Germans, ws should not let it be heard in zhe rest
of the world. We have today to raise cur voice cn
behalf of democracy more vigorously than ever
before .... We have to say to the world what v-e
know and what we believe, even though it may
sometimes mean the exposure of our xveakness. In
the long run, honesty is the best political policy....
The Congress has declared that it is preparing for
civil disobedience and non-cooperation. It is use-
less for the Under Secretary to say that we shall?
rot ho deterred i3y threats cf that desersption, for
Indians can also say they too will not be deterred
by threats. People with high principles are prepared
to go through unlimited suffering for what they
believe to be true.. ..If, at this time when democracy
is challenged, we are prepared to implement our
promise and establish freedom and independence
in India, we shall be doing more than anything
within imagination to win India and awaken the
peoples of the world to the realities of democracy
and freedom. Involved as we are in this struggle
for democracy and freedom of nations and peoples,
we must of necessity demonstrate our consistency.
Our enemy makes a great deal of our inconsistency,
but surely the best answer is not to evade what
he says or ^ to abuse him, but to remove the
inconsistency.”
Sevagram, 6-5-40 PyareSal
UNWORTHY OF WARDHA!
It was a sultry night and our carriage was
crowded to suflfocation. Those who could not
sleep beguiled the tedium of the hours by
talking, and their ceaseless chatter kept awake
those who did try to sleep. There need have
been no stuffiness while the train was in motion,
but there were some near the windows who
said that they would rather be suffocated than
have the coal-dust. I would open the window
when I found that the other fellow was half
sleepy, and he would shut it when he found
that I was too sleepy to notice it
We had thus no real sleep until about 2
o’clock in the morning, and out of sheer
exhaustion we fell off to sleep. But at about
3 or 3-30 came a hefty Sikh shouting and
storming. He managed to find some room on the
upper bank, but was too bulky and long to be
comfortable there. So he got down and shouted
to one of the passengers to get up and
make room for him. This friend, a Parsi, made
room for him without the slightest reluctance.
But the Sikh said : ' You better get right up,’ —
he was still stretching himself half-length—
•you have been sleeping all night. It is nearly
four o’clock, and you” must leave me enough
room to lie down.’
This evidently the other friend was not willing
to do, as he had no sleep until 2 o’clock. The
Sikh shouted : ‘ But will you get up or shall
I summon the Station Master?’
The Parsi young man remained quiet without
budging from his seat. But the Sikh friend
had now attracted others who joined Him in
the shouting, and the hubbub brought a station
official in. He saw the situation in a moment
and very politely began; td evetyon^ to move
12£
HASLTA2^"
[May 11, 1940'
tlown a little and to make some more room for
the Sikh, That, however, was not enough for
the latter. He wanted to make an impression.
He looked suspidonsly at the Parsi friend and
asked him "■ ‘ Kow far are you going ?’
The Parsi friend gently replied: ‘To Bombay."
‘Where are you coming from?"
‘yrom Wardha,"
‘ Have you got a ticket ? Let the Station
Master find out first if you have got a ticket.
I will then see how you stick to your seat. ’
The conversation was going on so far in
Hindi. The Parsi friend, who had kept amac-
ingly cool, now said in English : ’ What do you
mean? What business have you to ask me to
show my ticket? What right have you?’
The Sikh, finding that this friend was civilised
enough to talk English, slightly lowered his
tone now, and said: ‘I did not ask you to
show me your ticket. I wanted the station
official to find out if you had a ticket.’
The Parsi: ‘But you asked me first if I had
a ticket. And even if you wanted the station
official to find out if I had a ticket, what
business had you to suggest that I might be
travelling without a ticket ? ’
The Sikh friend offered a straight blunt
explanation : ‘You said you were travelling from
Wardha. You have no bed-roll. You are lying
down on a miserable sheet. From your looks
I suspected you might not have a ticket.’
With perfect composure the Parsi friend said :
‘ You are now adding insult to the injury, sir.
All you will judge a man from is his dress
and his looks ? ’
‘ No, I do not,’ said the Sikh. ‘ You are
travelling from Wardha. If you had cheap
khadi on, I should not have questioned you.’
‘Then what do you see on my person? Don’t
you see that every bit of the cloth on me is
khadi ? ’
He was wearing a coloured suit of khadi check,
but the Sikh friend having never worn khadi
evidently did not know that there could be
coloured. khadi. But he stuck to his guns, and
said: ‘But this sheet you are lying down on is
mill-cloth and not khadi I'
The Parsi youth said: ‘I confess it is not,
but what has that to do with my having a
ticket or not?’
‘ No. ’ said the Sikh, ‘ but how can a man
perform a long journey without a good bedding?
And seeing that you bad just a sheet and nothing
else 1 suspected that you might be like many
of those who travel without a ticket on this
train.’ The Sikh friend again forgot that in the
hot season a yquth would not think of having
anything more than a sheet to spread on the
seat. But he now shifted his ground. ' You,’ he
said, ‘being from Wardha, how can you afford
to lose your temper? You arc a yoimg man, I
am much older, and so I asked you to make"
room for me, but you flew into a rage i ’
‘Is that correct?’ asked the Parsi friend. ‘I
actually made room for you. It is you who
stormed and raged and even suggested that I
might not have a ticket. Don’t worry what a
man from Wardha should wear and how he
should behave. Think of yourself and please
don’t forget that a blow with a word sometimes
cuts deeper than a blow with a sword. That
is the blow you gave me.’
The Sikb was nonplussed but he still insisted
that the Parsi frieiuJ’s behaviour was unworthy
of one coming from Wardha. There was no one
else in the compartment wearing khadi, and so
the Sikh was in ‘ good ’ company. His neighbour
now took up the cudgels on his behalf and
said : ‘ You arc perhaps coming from Gandhiji’s
ashram ? ’
‘ What if I did ? ’
‘If you do, you ought not to lose your
temper. They practise ahimsa there. ’
‘ I see,’ said the Parsi friend gently. ‘ I was
on a visit there and do not belong to the
ashram.'
The fault was first of Wardha, then of the
Gandhi Ashram; the first charge was that the
youth was not wearing khadi, then that he
was not using a khadi sheet, and again that he
had lost his temper. The Government expect
satyagrahis to suffer insults, abuse, kicks, lathi
blows without a word. If they do so, they are
expected to bear shooting without flinching.
If they fail to do so, they arc no satyagrahis.
Even so it is Wardha that has to keep the
whole code : spin, wear khadi, lose no temper,
preserve truth and non-violence in thought,
word and deed. These ‘ non-Wardiia-mcn’ thus
want the ‘Wardha- men’ to win Independence for
them. They will enjoy it all right, but the code
has to be kept by Wardha, and no one else !
Sevagram. 6-5-40 M. D.
To Correspondents and Message-seekers
In spite of my notice in Harijan of Decem-
ber 23rd those who can spare roe continue to
write and ask for messages. I would refer them
to the notice for fuller explanation. I know
several intimate friends have not received acknow-
ledgments or messages. They will forgive me,
I have to harden my heart if I am to cope
with the responsibility I am carrying. And what
can be better than that I should commence with
known friends?
Sevagram, 15-1-40 M. K. G.
CONTEN'rS Page •
A One-sided Inquiry
Our Castes
Gandhiji’s Statement
Question Box
Ajmer
Occasional Notes
Unworthy of Wardha!
M. K. Gandhi 121
M. D. 122
123
M. K. Gandhi 123
M. K. Gandhi 124
Pyarelal 126
M. D. 127
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aiyabhudian Press. 915/1 Fergusson Coflege Road. Poona ♦
•■^••■****** “ hn-ABB : Om yeu. Be. 4, Six months, Bi. *-«, FOBXiaH : One yesr, E*. 6-8 or, 8 ah. or 1 8.
c
No. B 3092
: MAHADEV DESAI
'VoL. Vin, No. 14 1 POONA — SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
QUESTION BOX
(Bj; M. iC. Gandhi')
Democracy and Non-violence
Q. Why do you say, “Democracy can only be
saved through non-violence ” ? ( The questioner
is an American friend. )
A. Because democracy, so long as it is sus-
tained by violence, cannot provide for or protect
the weak. My notion of democracy is that
under it the weakest should have the same
opportunity as the strongest. That can never
happen except through non-violence. No country
in the world today shows any but patronising
regard for the weak. The weakest, you say, go
to the wall. Take your own case. Your land
is owned by a few capitalist owners. The same
is true of South Africa. These large holdings
cannot be sustained except by violence, veiled if
not open. Western democracy, as it functions
today, is diluted Nazism or Fascism. At best it
is merely a cloak to hide the Nazi and the
Fascist tendencies of imperialism. Why is there
the war today, if it is not for the satisfaction
of the desire to share the spoils ? It was not
through democratic methods that Britain bagged
India. What is the meaning of South African
democracy ? Its very constitution has been drawn
to protect the white man against the coloured
man, the natural occupant. Your own history is
perhaps blacker still, in spite of what the
Northern States did for the abolition of slavery.
The way you have treated the negro presents
a discreditable record. And it is to save such
democracies that the war is being fought ! There
is something very hypocritical about it. I am
thinking just now in terms of non-violence and
trying to expose violence in its nakedness.
India is trying to evolve true democracy, i. e.
without violence. Our weapons are those of
satyagraha expressed through the charkha, the
village industries, primary education through
handicrafts, removal of untouchability, communal
harmony, prohibition, and non-violent organisa-
tion of labour as in Ahmedabad. These mean
mass ejBFort and mass education. We have big
agencies for conducting these activities. They are
purely voluntary, and their only sanction is
service of the lowliest.
This is the permanent part of the non-violent
effort. From this effort is created the capacity
to offer non-violent resistance called non-coopera-
tion and civil disobedience which may culminate
in mass refusal to pay rent and taxes. As you
know, we Lave tried non-cooperaLion and civil
disobedience on a fairly large scale and fairly
successfully. The experiment has in it promise
of a brilliant future. As yet our resistance has-
been that of the weak. The aim is to develop
the resistance of the strong. Your wars will
never ensure safety for democracy. India’s
experiment can and will, if the people come up
to the mark or, to put it another way, if
God gives me the necessary wisdom and
strength to bring the experiment to fruition.
Hypocrisy
Q. I agree with you that those who do not
believe in the tests laid down by you for
enrolment as satyagrahis should not hold ofifice
in the Congress organisation. What is, however,
happening is that, while embargo upon disbelief
has been effective, hypocrisy is enjoying a
premium. People who have nothing in common
with your programme are coming forward
with the satyagraha pledge in order to capture
power, their only qualification being lack of
scruples. Can you as General of the satyagraha
army shut your eyes to this ? If not, what
remedy do you propose ?
A. I suppose Cowper not knowing how to
deal with the hypocrite paid him a compliment
by saying that “ hypocrisy was an ode to virtue.’
And so it is. But the gentlemen whom you
refer to will soon discover their error either
by my sensing the hypocrisy and not starting
the struggle, or by their being tired of a role
which requires labour from them. Meanwhile
I must take everyone at his or her word, and
believe that those who have taken the pledge
have done so in good faith, I have no right
to question anybody’s motive unless I have
proof positive to the contrary.
Defence of India Act
Q. The resolution passed at Ramgarh says
that •* Congressmen and those under the Congress
influence cannot help in the prosecution of the
War with men, money or materials.” Every
resolution of the Congress has to be explained
to the people by Congressmen and Congress
committees. If we do that, we are sure to
offend the provisions of the Defence of India
Act, i. e. we will be committing an act of civil
disobedience before you as General have given
the word. What are we to do under the
circumstances ?
A. I am not quite sure that you will
commit an offence against the Defence of India
Act nsreiy by explaining tbe resolution to the
people. But you can easily put yourself under
it by adding ‘ginger’ to your explanation and
delivering a first class harangue against British
rule. In your place I rvould not do it. Suffi-
cient education has been given to the people
as to what British rule is. But you should
lay stress on what the people have to do to
get out of foreign rule. Therefore everything
depends upon how you say it. You will
offend against my instructions when you dis-
obey explicit orders served upon you.
Self-detominaiion
Q. Are you right in conceding the right of
self-determination to Muslims in a matter so
vitally affecting others also, viz. Hindus, Sikhs,
etc. ? Supposing the majority of the Muslims
decide in favour of partition in terras of the
Muslim League resolution, what happens to the
self-determination of Hindus, Sikhs, etc., who
will be minorities in the Muslim States ? If you
go on like this, where will be the end to it?
A. Of course Hindus and Sikhs will have the
same right, I have simply said that there is no
other non-violent method of dealing with the
problem. If every component part of the nation
claims the right of self-determination for itself,
there is no one nation and there is no
independence. I have already said that Pakistan
is such an untruth that it cannot stand. As
soon as the authors begin to work it out, they
will find that it is not practicable. In any case
mine is a personal opinion. What the vast
Hindu masses and the others will say or do I
do not know. My mission is -to work for the
unity of all, for the sake of the equal good
of all.
What Should Be Done ?
Q. In the last meeting of the Working
Committee the Committee have resolved that all
Congress committees should cither be transformed
into satyagraha committees or the office-bearers,
who for any reason cannot sign the pledge,
should resign and make room for others who
have signed the pledge. Now, if any Congress-
man has no faith in your technique but has
accepted it only to carry out the Working Com-
mittee’s resolution and is spinning only because
he wants to remain in office, is he entitled
to become a satyagrahi and remain in office ?
A. Surely the office-bearers should resign. The
pledge taken merely to remain in office is of no
value. Such a person should not hold office.
For Non'-performance
Q. If anyone signing the satyagraha. pledge
does not observe the rules laid down in it, what
action will be taken, against such a satyagrahi?
A. He is liable to be removed from the
position he may hold.
If A Committee Refuses
■ Q. If a Congress committee refuses to trans-
form itself into a satyagraha committee, what
is the position of that committee? ■
' A; That area will .. be unfreptesented unless
[ is, i940-
there are other Congressmen to take the place
of the defunct committee.
Cam They Take the Pledge?
Q. Can the following persons take the
satyagraha pledge ?
(a) A pleader who has given an undertaking
to the court that he will not join any civil
disobedience movement.
(b) A person who though he wears khadi
himself buys mill cloth for others and uses mill
cloth for his bed sheets, etc.
(c) A person who though a khadi- wearer him-
self trades in foreign cloth.
A. These persons cannot take the pledge.
Sevagram, 13-5-40
BASIC EDUCATION
The annual meeting of the Hindustani Talimi
Sangh was held at Sevagram on the 2nd and
3rd May, Dr. Zakir Husain presiding.
The following members were present :
1. Dr. Abid Husain, 2. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur,
3. Shri Shrikrishnadas Jaju, 4.. Acharya Kaka
Kalelkar, 5. Shri J. C. ICumarappa, 6. Shri G.
Ramachandran, 7. Acharya Badrinath Varma,
8. Acharya Vinoba, 9. Smt. Ashadevi, 10. Shri
E. W. Aryanayakam.
The following arc some of the important reso-
lutions passed :
1. The Sangh expresses its agreement with
the opinion of the Poona Conference of Basic
Education that steady and encouraging progress
has been made during the last two years, and
that basic education bids fair to bring about a
healthy revolution in the existing unsatisfactory
system of primary education, with special refer-
ence to rural areas; also that it has brought a
new sense of self- confidence into the life of
children and a refreshing sense of healthy dis-
ciplined freedom into the school.
2. The Sangh is definitely of the opinion that,
in spite of its larger initial expenditure, the basic
system will in the long run be more economical
than the existing one. There will, in addition,
be such advantages as cannot be measured in
terms of money,
3. The Sangh is of opinion that in the choice
of basic crafts for schools the predominant
occupation of the locality should be taken into
account, provided that it is rich in educational
possibilities. In order to ensure a sound economic
market for the products of basic education, each
Government should set up a department to make
the necessary local survey for a proper selection
of basic crafts and regulate the disposal of the
products of the schools.
4. The Sangh requests the authorities in the
various provinces to select some basic schools in
their areas for intensive work so that results
worked out under controlled experimental condi-
tions may be available in the shape of data for
the whole country.
5. Necessary steps be taken to induce local
bodies in the various provinces to open basic
YiAY 18 , 1940 ]
131
HABJJAN
sciools and to make necessary arrangements for
the training of teachers.
6. A Basic Craft Sub-Committee - be appointed
to assist the Sangh in the following matters:
( a ) The preparation of detailed correiared
craft syllabi for both teachers and students.
(b) The revision of the existing syllabus in
the light of two years’ experience,
’( c ) The preparation of standards and tests
for testing the efficiency of craft work at the
training schools and basic schools.
( d ) The preparation of technical literature
and the revision of literature already produced.
(e) The preparation of a vocabulary of tech-
nical terms.
7. In view of the need for craft experts on
the staff of the training centres and supervisory
staff of basic education, the Maharashtra Charkha
Sangh be requested to make special arrange-
ments for the training cf such experts, and
Shri Shrikrishnadas Jaju be requested to prepare
a suitable scheme.
8. The invitation of Dr. I. E. Khan, Principal,
Basic Training College, Allahabad, to hold the
Second Conference of Basic Education in Allaha-
bad was accepted.
9. The authorities of Jamia Millia Islamia be
requested to make arrangements for a permanent
exhibition of basic education attached to their
training centre at Jamia Nagar, Delhi, and
an exhibition of Basic Education may also be
organised in connection with the Kbadi and
Village Industries Exhibition at the annual
session of the Congress.
10. During the coming year efforts be made
by the Sangh to prepare suitable literature for
pupils and teachers of basic education.
Ashadevi
Favouritism
On reading my note in Harijan of 9th March
on the Seng Khasi School, a correspondent writes :
“The school may perhaps be failing to follow
the Government curriculum. But even at its worst
it could not be worse than the large numbers of
local , mission schools which have received Govern-
ment grants. ' It looks, therefore, as though the
stumbling block is -text-books. It is all too true
that the books on the prescribed list are nearly all
mission bopks, and are unusable by any non-Christian
school. But it is true that all the people with
influence in the Education Department, so far as
Khasi education is concerned, are Christians, and the
scales are weighted very heavily in favour of mission
schools, and against such courageous efforts as the
one referred to by , your correspondent, which is
making' a sincere and praiseworthy effort to preserve
the national culture and rescue the Khasis from the
demoralising influence of the Roman Catholics and
Calvinists.”
This is ‘ a • matter for the Assam Government
to attend to. Whatever may have happened
before, thc^ scandal such as the one referred to.
by my correspondent should '.cease tinder a
Government 'which is responsible to the people.
SeVagtam, 13^5-40' ' M. K. G.
A GEY FSOM SOUTH OEI3SA
( By Ao ]/. ThcJ&or )
For over a year ! have been moving frequently
in the backward areas of Qrissa, now called
‘Partially Excluded Areas’, and almost neglecting
my Harijan work. Two such extensive Oriya-
speaking areas, comprising the Koraput district
(or Jeypore Zimrr.fH/T and Ganjam Uplands,
were transferred to the newly -formed Orissa
Province by Ma(?'cas in ri?36. Both are inhabited
by aborigmal tribes such as Khends (or Kandhas),
Savaras, Parajas, Koyas, Gadabas and Gonds, and
by Harijans like Dombs (or Dorns) and Panos.
The proportion of non-aborigines and others in
these areas is about 56 per cent and 40 per
cent respectively. The tribe of Savaras, which
takes its name from the Shaba ri, a tributary of the
Godavari, is the same as that mentioned in the
Ramayana, a female member of which gave sweet
plums with great love to Shri Ramachandra.
It is a real tragedy that the British Govern-
ment has done very little in the past for the
moral, material and intellectual betterment of
these people. Over a century has gone by and
these areas are more or less inaccessible and
unknown to the man in the street. Even the
money from special grants given for them by the
Central Government seems to have been wasted.
The Labour Commissioner’s Department, which
has worked well for the Scheduled or Harijan
Castes, has ignored the existence of these people
who have been in charge of Agents of the
Madras Governor. As a result of this neglect even
primary education scarcely exists, and disease,
superstition and ignorance are rampant. The
primitive method of cultivation by means of
burning trees from the forest and sowing on
manure formed by the ashes thus obtained still
prevails, resulting in the denudation of forests,
and soil erosion on a large scale. These back-
ward tracts have been handed over to the
Government of Orissa which is proverbially the
poorest province in the country. Rs. 2-8-0 per
head is the revenue income of Orissa, and in
addition to the cost of an expensive machinery
of government, money has to be found very
often for relief from havoc caused by floods or
droughts. How can the Orissa Government find
money to develop these areas?
Another obstacle is the fact that these tracts
yield next to no revenue to the Province.
The Koraput area is under the Maharaja of
Jeypore under the Permanent Land Settlement,
and the people of Ganjam were exempted from
payment nearly a century ago by the then
irresponsible India Government. Two to three
lakhs of rupees per annum would go a long*
way to improve the lot of these backward people.
It is not a large sum for the Central Govern-
ment to find, and the rescuing and development,
of these poor people is surely a duty which
may not be neglected.
As, however, there seems very little hope o^
the requisite financial aid coming from the
132
HAMJAK
I May 18, 7MQ
CentrCj, it would be a great thing if welfare
work could be organized on a laxge scale.
Workers with the necessary zeal and de'-^ot?ou
•could go and settle among these poor people
and raise them educationally, morally and eco-
nomically. Will organisations like the Arya
Samaj, the Brahmo' Samaj, the Hindu Maha-
sabha, and other Social Service Leagues help ?
All eflforts to reclaim these backward classes
will be a real service to the country.
It is interesting to note that under the
Government of India Act of 1935 these two
areas are the only ones to whom the stigma
of nomination still attaches. There is no system
of election to the Assembly, and even those
nominated to represent them arc not always
members of the tribes themselves. To no other
backward tribes does this rule apply.
4~l (Ltij an.
May 18
1940
NON-COOPERATION
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The following is from a God-fearing political
friend whom everybody knows:
“You must have shouldered the responsibility of
making difficult decisions many a time in your life,
but the responsibility which the Ranigarh Congress
resolution has entrusted you with is the gravest of
all. The future of India, nay of the world, depends
upon it.
You are far above me in wisdom and experience.
But I feel you are very hard upon yourself. The
■experiments that you sometimes carry on in your
search of truth, involving yourself and thousands of
others, make me gasp.
I have been closely following your experiments in
.ahimsa and satyagraha and read carefully every word
that you write. You feel that these weapons are
effective for establishing the right and putting down
the wrong in the world. But I tell you these weapons
of yours have been and are being abused in the world.
The reason for it, I think, is this that once the
people begin to feel the strength of these weapons
the latent hatred in their hearts comes to the surface
and, armed with these, becomes ten times, even a hun-
dred times, more potent for mischief. That is bound
to do great harm to the country, and it may take
ages to undo it. Non-cooperation has become a curse
in every-day life. Its ill effects are seen in family
circles, in associations, in business, in factories and
in Government offices.
The most unfortunate part is this that those who
are in the wrong are using this weapon against
those who are in the right. An unworthy son or
an unworthy daughter, a father on the wrong path,
a miserly businessman or millowner, a dishonest
worker, all these resort to non-cooperation to defend
their indefensible conduct. My experience is that
those who are in the right are perplexed and
paralysed by your weapon. Non-cooperation hits
one from behind and in a manner more deadly
than the deadliest weapon. Twice I have seen it
used in connection with political movements in India,
^nd it brings tears to my -eyes whenever I see you
about to resort to it. Having learnt its use from
you, selfish people use it in your name in order
to gain their selfish ends, and bring misery upon
thousands of people. Therefore I beg of you not to
employ this weapon in politics. It may get us
some rights, but it spreads hatred among mankind,
not love. We are too imperfect. You are a wise
man, you are a man of God. Pray God that He
may show you another way.
I request you not to embarrass the British in any
way while they are engaged in this life and death
struggle. But I know, by itself the Congress will
ngt have the patience to do so, though it may
under your advice. The ill-will and the hatred that
would be let loose if non -cooperation is started and
Ihe communal bitterness to which it may give rise,
would have an adverse effect upon the war and
expose India to greater danger-
If Congressmen must embarrass the British, I feel
they should go back to offices in the provinces and
should face the British Government with a dilemma at
every step in the Provincial and the Central Assem-
blies. This is the only right course and it tells
upon the British public.
Again we have to solve the Hindu-Muslim problem.
For that we should call a conference of all the
communal leaders and party leaders. If ive make
an effort beforehand, we might become united by
the time the Government is willing to call the
Constituent Assembly. No time should be lost.
The demands of the Mussalmans will mount up as
time goes on. I am certain God will help us to
attain unity if we try for it in right earnest and
without delay. God has put the reins of the country
in your hands ; you alone can make or mar Iier
fate. ”
The writer is one of the most earnest among
us. He has presented one side of the picutre,
but like all one-sided pictures this also is
misleading.
Every powerful thing is liable to misuse. Opium
and arsenic are most potent and useful drugs. And
they lend themselves to great abuse. No one has
for that reason suggested the stopping of their
good use. If non-cooperation has lent itself to
abuse in some cases, in many cases its wise use has
proved absolutely efficacious. A thing has to be
judged by its net effect. The net effect of non-
violent non-cooperation has been of the greatest
benefit to India. It has brought about an awaken-
ing among the masses which would probably have
taken generations otherwise. It has prevented
bloodshed and anarchy and on the whole improv-
ed the relations between the Britishers and our-
selves. There is a better mutual understanding
because there is better mutual respect than ever
before. And yet our non-cooperation has been
indifferently non-violent, I hold that non-coopera-
tion is of universal use. Well applied, its use
in politics can wholly displace the use of barba-
rous weapons of mutual destruction. The thing
to do, therefore, is not to restrict its use but
to extend it, care being taken that it is used
in accordance with the known laws regulating
its use. Risk of misuse has undoubtedly to be
run. But with the increase in the knowledge
of its right use, the risk can be minimised.
One safe thing about non-cooperation is that
in the end its abuse recoils more upon the
users than upon those against whom it is used-
133
May 18, 1940 } 'KA^l^^AE
' Its abuse is the greatest in domestic relations
because those against whom it is used are not
strong enough to resist the abuse. It becomes
a case of misapplied affection. Doting parents
or wives are the greatest victims. These will
learn wisdom when they realise that affection
does not demand yielding to extortion in any
form. On the contrary true affection will resist it.
The v/riter suggests the usual parliamentary
programme with cbstructicn. Its futility, when
it is not backed by readiness for non-cooperation
and civil disobedience, has been fully demon-
strated.
So far as the British are concerned I have
already said that I will do nothing to embarrass
them. I am straining every nerve to avoid a
conflict. But they may make it inevitable. Even
sOo I am praying for a mode of application
which will be effective and still not embarrass-
ing in the sense of violent outbreaks through-
out the country.
Here I must say that, whilst it is true that
active cooperation on the part of Congressmen
is not yet much in evidence, of passive co-
operation on their part there is no lack. Violent,
sporadic eruptions on the part of the people
would have paralysed my effort to gather to-
gether forces of non-violence in an effective
manner. As it is, the restraint which they have
• exercised fills me with hope for the future.
Hindu-Muslim unity is a morsel by itself.
But my friend is on the wrong track when he
suggests that unity should be hastened for fear
of Muslims raising their demands. Demands
against whom ? India is as much theirs as
anybody else’s. The way to unity lies through
just demands once for all, not through ever-
increasing demands, whether just or unjust. The
demand for partition puts an end to all
effort for unity for the time being. I hold that
communal understanding is not a pre-requisite
to the British doing justice, on their part.
When they feel that they want to recognise
India’s right of self-determination, all the
diflBculties that they put forth as obstacles in
their path will melt away like ice before
the sun’s rays. The right of self-determination
means the right of determination by every
group and ultimately every individual. The
' demand for a Constituent Assembly presumes
that the determinations of the groups and
individuals will coincide. Should it haptftn
otherwise and partition become the fashion,
either we shall have partition or partitions rather
than foreign rule, or we shall continue to
wrangle among ourselves and submit to foreign
rule, or else have a proper civil war. Anyway
the present suspense cannot continue. It has to
end one way or the other. I am an optimist. I
have every hope that when we come to grips
Hindus, Muslims, and all others will throw in
their weight in favour of India which all will
'-claim as their own.
Sevagram, 13-5-40
OCCASIONAL NOTES
The MfiiiTioiritbs’
There is no doubt that dunng the present
crisis there are more Englishmen alive to a
sense of realities and to the justice of India's
case than ever before. The India debate in the
Commons is a sure index. But an even surer
index is the opinion in the British press. Thus
The Scoisinctii had an interesting controversy
071 the Hindu Muslim and the Princes' question
between Mr. F. Burton Leach and Prof. A*
Berriedale Keith. The former maintained that
the Hindus and Muslims differed more widely
than the Protestants of Northern and Catholics
of Southern Ireland.
“ The Hindus and Muslims,” he said, represent
two civilisations and cultures, which are diametrically
opposed to one another in nearly every way. With-
out upholding the intransigent claims made by some
Moslem leaders, it is useless to shut our eyes to-
the facts and to dismiss 80,000,000 Indian Moslems
as merely a religious minority, who ought to be
satisfied with the security of their religion. Security
for their religion, indeed, has never been threatened
for two good reasons — one that Hinduism is not
a proselytising faith; and the other that to under-
mine the religion of the Moslems would be utterly
impossible and even interference with it would -pro-
voke immediate Civil War, in which the Hindus, in.
spite of numerical majority would stand very little
chance, because the Moslems would have^ Afghanistan
and other Moslem countries behind them.”
It is curious to note how this language is
just an echo of Lord Hailey’s and Sir William
Barton’s language which revives the two nations
theory which, as we have seen in these columns,
was originally conceived in the British mind.
Prof. Keith makes short work of this argument :
There is no truth in Mr. F. Burton Leach’s
allegation that I compare the Hindus and Moslems
of India with the Catholics and Protestants of
Ireland or regard their cleavage as purely religious.
The whole point is that just as we allowed a poli-
tical minority in Ireland to induce us to deny home
rule, and thus brought about a rebellion which end-
ed with the Independence of Eire and the legisla-
tion last year to legalise treason against the King,
so we shall bring about disaster in India if we
allow a political minority to deny responsible Govern-
ment to the majority. That form of Government
was promised with the sanction of Parliament
in 1917, the promise has been repeated lime
after time with like approval, and the issue sim-
ply is, ‘ Are we going to repudiate our promises
and to justify Civil Disobedience and rebellion ? ’
Mr- Leach admits that there is no danger to-
Moslem religion from the Hindus, which shows
that their claim to deny responsible Government
rests merely on their denial of the principle of
democracy, majority rule. We are therefore to govern
India in contradiction to the wishes of the majority
of the people to please a minority. We did so in
Ireland and the result is patent to all. Can history
teach nothing ? *'
The Princes* Question
Mr. Leach employed the usual argument of the
Treaty Obligations with the Princes and argued
that the Princes
^ are not all autocrats and that autocracy is not
necessarily bad. A benevolent autocracy may be a
better form of Government in some societies than a
:so-called democracy which might in practice be only
•n <0 /
jaj??
[ IViAY 185 1940
an oligarchy. England was on tbe whole better
go%’8rn€d under the autocracy of the Tudors than
under the corrupt oligarchic system of the eighteenth
century which claimed to have overthrown autocracy.
Many of the larger Slates have adopted a considej'*
able measure of responsible Gcvernment, and several
distinguished Congress politicians are serving as
Ministers under the Princes. The policy of succes-
sive Viceroys has been to encourage the liberalisa-
tion of the constitution of the Slates. Prof. Keith's
argument that ‘ autocracy in India is now supported
by British arms only ’ is a complete misrepresenta-
tion of the situation from the point of view of the
Indian princes and of the British Government,”
This is blowing hot and cold in the sa/oc
breath, praising autocracy and yet trying to
maintain that responsible government is being
introduced. One would like to know the Con-
gressmen serving as Ministers in States and also
to know for how many days the States could
function if the support of the British arms were
to be removed. But Prof. Keith’s reply as a
constitutional authority is worth noting:
Mr. Leach is perfectly aware that the treaties
are all subject to the paramount power of the Crown
to be exercised in the interests of India as a whole.
Does anyone really believe that to ask a few
score of rulers to abandon absolute pov/er and to
accept the role of constitutional sovereigns, with all
their wealth, prestige and the light to influence their
‘ Governments, is to break any obligation of the
Crown or is contrary to morality ? ”
Then he adds : .
“ Mr. Leach indeed ruins his own case by admitting
that many of the larger States have adopted a con-
siderable measure of responsible Government. They
have done so because they know that e^-en a bene-
volent autocrat — and many rulers have not been
benevolent and still more have been grossly incom-
'petent — form an inferior type of Government to
self-government. To ask responsible-Governraent
provinces to federate with autocratic Slates is an
unreasonable demand. We should make it clear at
least that, if the States prefer to remain autocratic,
Federation will go on without them. Less than that
will be a failure in duty no less than in policy.
The time for saving India is growing short. Those
of us who followed the Irish fiasco with regret do
not wish to see a like fate for India.”
But the demand for Independence ought to
make the case simpler. Let the people of British
India get their right to self-determination, irres-
pective of what the Princes may or may not
like to do. Perhaps it would be easier for
them to make their choice if the British Indian
people’s right to self-determination were recognised.
Too Late
The Church Times publishes a long interview
by its special representative with an Indian
Christian. His name is not given, but the space
devoted to this important interview indicates the
importance of the source. On the minorities’
question the gentleman said :
Tbe differences* in so far as they exist, between
Moslems and Hindus were certainly got created by
Great Britain; but for its own reasons those differ-
ences have been fostered by the Imperial Government.
The British policy has been Divide at impera, and
it has been directly responsible for widening the gap
*that already existed ? between the Moslem and the
Hindu community* It is the Moslems of the cities
xi British India who have made the complaints and
have demanded protection. They have beer? giveo-
political and economic powers out of all proportion
to their numbers, influence, education and cnlturOo
They are bound up with the British rule, and have
. everything to lose if Britain withdraws. In the villages,
on the Other hand, where British influence has not so
fully penetrated there is no Moslem problem at alia
Moslems live sido by side with Hindus and have
nothing to fear. The Piinces naturally fear for
themselves at the withdrawal of the British. They
gave their power to the Imperial Government and,
they assert, will take it back into their own hands
again if Congress gains its demands. This is only
an empty tVrat. Thci: vvOi’-j -mincdirriciy
colhoso o Biii'sl; 1'; fs
interesting lo no!:c the depiossed classes have
not asked for special protection. Dr. Auibedikar
speaks for only ten thousand out of sixty million.
Nor have the Indian Christians, the second largest
minority, put forward any special interest.”
The interviewer asked if Dominion StatuE
would not be the Crst step to full Independence.
The ansv/cr was :
“ Dominion Status would have been the proper
preparation for freedom once upon a lime. For my
part I believe with many other Indians tliat that
time has passed. IJ^omiiiion Status should have been
granted before, it is now' too late. Such status
would give Inclhns llie right to ticcich) all alVairSj
except defence, foreign policy’', minority r/roMems and
so on. But these ate the very (lueslions tl^at
wishes to decide for herself, though she wouid ttro-
bably 'welcome advice about defence —as in jy^ypt -
and make special arrangements wllh Great ih-itaiiio
If even Dominion Status is postponed U) the end of
the war, Indian feeling will be liopclcssly alienated,
and the unrest in Ireland and among the Africander in
South Africa will be reitcalcd this time in the ICastA
Wo Love of Max: Germany
Mr. Sorenson, the Labour M. P. foe West
Leyton, in an article in the London Tiilnme
exposed the hollowness of the pretension that
the Muslim League represented the whole
Muslim opinion, and showed hov/ the reference
to tbe eighty million Muslims opposed to the
Congress was the plea advanced pretentiously
by life-long notorious imperialists who fought
even the India Act every step of the way. ’’
This is how he appeals to the British Govern-
ment to face the -reality;
“ Will this be followed by Civil Disobedience ?
That remains to be seen, although this is possible.
In any case Hindus, Muslim?, Sikhs, and others
writhin, or supporting, the Congress have made it
abundantly clear that there can be no co-operation
with Great Britain unless and until there is the
recognition of mutual respect and dignity which c-an
only issue* through the admission by Britain that
I^jflia is a free nation entitled and able to work
her own economy and choosing by her own unciua^
lified volition as a recognised independent nation
whether she shall or shall not cooperate with the
British nation. Our Government may interpret this
as it pleases, but the reality of the issue remains.
And for Britain and the Labour Movement no less
than for India it is of the highest value that our
professions should thus be put to critical test. It is
through no love of Nazi Germany that India insists
on her inherent right. It is through love of the
same freedom vaunted above totalitarian debasement
that India now implements her insistent chg,l]enge s
‘ Do you fight for freedom ? So do we. 'What
about it ? ’ ”
Sevagram, 15-5-40 M. D.
'May 18, 1940 ]
HAEIJAH
A HIDEO'US SYIL
A friend from Kamalapuram wrir.es as folicws:
“A few days ago I was at the Car Festival of
Humpi — the ancient Vijayanagar — which annual^’'
draws thousands of men and women, young and olda
from all over these parts. I noticed certain huts
constructed apart from campers’ sheds on one side
of the temple yard. A woman was standing at
the entrance of each hut with obvious intent to
attract men. The sight being unexpected and re-
volting I enquired of other visitors what it meant.
I was told they were brothels and therefore segre-
gated. Deeply smitten I hurried away, but on second
thought felt I ought to bring the fact to the notice
of the public. There were a dozen huts each with
6 or 7 victims in them. The organisers charged a
little extra as ground rent for the special site.
Who knows if they did not collect a professional
tax too ?
I was told by one of the crowd that such doings
.are a normal feature of festivals. But even my
informant was staggered at the unseemly and syste-
mised organisation of these brothels under the very
nose of the police. The Temple Committee, and the
Police and Health Departments are jointly responsible
for the happenings and arrangements at the fair. It
may be that other bodies are also. The President of
the District Board of Bellary is also the President of
the K. P. C. C. There is a Congress 'Committee
within 7 miles of this place where a Congress
M. L, A. as well as the President reside. I ex-
pressed my horror to some prominent Congressmen
who were there, but none appeared to feel as deeply
as 1 did. The girls were mostly from the Northern
Circars.
This vicious traffic may be a hideous truth. But
why should organisations meant for promotion of
human welfare become its agents ? Can society
• descend to worse depths ?
, I wish you would raise your voice in protest/’
That brothels are more often than not orga-
nised at fairs and during religious festivals, and
that over and above these there are villains who
lie in wait to waylay innocent young women,
is no news to me. Two years ago when I was
President of the Women’s Conference, I raised
funds for a band of women workers to go to
Hardwar for the Kumbh -Mela and see what
they could do to combat the evil. Where our
Branches exist our Standing Committee members
do try to see that steps may be taken by the
authorities to stop this hideous traffic. But we
are really powerless to do much. Acts for put-
ting a check on immoral traffic in women are
not really efficacious, and we women have not
yet done anything substantial towards creating
public opinion in the matter. I do not differen-
tiate between men members of any political
party where codes of morality are concerned.
In all matters of social reform my experience
has been that very little help can be had from
constituted authority. Our system of Government
is not of the soil and therefore not |];human
•enough to feel for the sufferings of the poor.
That religious bodies should exploit religious
festivals for such foul deeds is a' travesty of
religion and is another proof of the havoc that
institutional religion often works.
I hope women workers will resolve to attend
these fairs and festivals not only to protect
innocent girls but also to expose the organis-ers
of these brothels. If Congress committees will
help us, it will make our 'cask easier. But I zm
convinced it is we and we alone who can get
rid of this evil in society. It is hard work® it
is difficult, it is almost thankless, but if we fee!
the shame of it enough, we shall not count the
cost, if public opinion is strong enough, the help
of the district authorities will also be available,
Mere protests are not enough — because it is
strange bow men’s consciences the weeid over
are singularly dead where such matters are con-
cerned. I am sure Gandhiji will once again take
this opportunity of condemning those concerned
in no uncertain terms.
Sevagram, 1-5-40 A.
[I am quite sure that Congressmen must not
tolerate this evil. M. K. G. ]
KHADI WORE IN TAMIL NAD
I
The Tamil Nad Branch of the A. 1. S. A, has
brought out a little brochure embodying the
report of khadi work done in Tamil Nad in
the year 1939. The year is described as one of
trial for khadi work — with accumulation of
large stocks, a small balance of working capita!,
and continuance of famine conditions through-
out the year. Production had to be cut down;
and sales, though increased by special efforts,
did not come up to expectations and could not
help to tide over the crisis. It is worth noting
that the increase in sales was not due to increased
demand in cities ( where there was actually a
decrease by Rs. 7,000) but due to greater purchases
of khadi by villagers — particularly by spinners.
On the top of these difficulties came the disas-
trous fire in the Madras Exhibition causing a
loss of Rs. 36,000 to the A. I. S. A. It redounds
to the credit of the workers of the Sangh that,
undaunted by these mishaps, they sustained their
faith and efforts and in August last raised the
spinners’ wages from 3 As. for a day of 8 hours
to 3 As. 6 Ps., i, e. by 22 per cent, , without
raising the prices of cloth — meeting the differ-
ence from Government subsidy.
Here are a few figures, culled from the tables
given in the report, which show at a glance the
volume of work put forth through the agency
of the A. I. S. A. in the year under report ; •
A. I. S. A- Centres
Spinners on rolls ( average )
Average monthly attendance
Yarn produced Hanks
„ Weight lbs.
„ Value Rs.
Khadi produced Sq. yds.
„ ■ Value Rs.
Khadi sold { Urban ) Rs.
„ ( Rural ) Rs.
„ (Other provinces )^Rs.
The khadi production gave
57.585 spinners, 2,043 weavers,
dyers, 42 printers, 21 tailors, 3
49
55,564
22,778
61,89,814
3,85,968
4,20.510
23,85,110
11,84,987
6,87,121
3,83,642
3,85,976
employment to
74 dhobis. , 30
carpenters and
m
[ May 18, 194©
2 Shiikis — the total mumber of artisaos employ-
ed bdiig 59,800, The wages paid to them were
as follows:
Carding
ivS.
801’
Spinning
4,V2,276
Weaving
3,04,050
Bleaching
16,679
Dyeing
6i,509
Printing
23,155
Tailoring
6,240
Carpentry and Smithy
1,505
When it is borne in minol that many of these
were part time workers it will be admitted that
the earnings of some of them were quite decent.
It is also to be noted that, but for the em-
ployment given to them by the A. L S, A.,
many, if not most, would have stood on the
list of the unemployed or partially but inade-
quately employed. These workers, classified by
community, included 1,031 Haiijans, 833 Muslims,
532 Christians, and 57,404 others. “In the pro-
secution of my obligations to the villagers I shall
recognise no distinction between man and man,’*
says the A. I. V. 1. A. members’ pledge, and
the foregoing figures demonstrate how khadi
has served all communities alike. It has united
them all in a common endeavour to rehabilitate
j
our village economy.
C. S.
AN IMPORTANT INTER
[The following is the report of an interview
that Gandhiji gave to a representative of The
Times of India at Seva gram on the 9th inst.]
“I would welcome a settlement which ensures
peace with honour, ” said Mr. Gandhi. “ The
Viceroy knows I am always ready.”
Seated on a mat in his small barely furnished
room, with a wet cloth wrapped round his head,
Mr. Gandhi carefully explained his viewpoint.
He spoke with great earnestness.
“I am not averse.” he explained, “to coming
to terms with Britain on matters like defence
and commercial interests, and I am fully prepared
that these adjustments should be referred to a
constituent assembly as part of an agreed settle-
ment.
Mr. Gandhi went on to explain his attitude
to the constituent assembly. “I believe per-
sonally that it is the most satisfactory method
of procedure; but don’t forget that I preserve
an open mind on the matter. If some people
hold that there are other forms of procedure
which are more representative, I am willing to
be convinced. Today I say that the assembly
should be elected on adult franchice, but here
again my mind is open to alternative proposals
provided these proposals have the backing of
irepresentatiye men.”
“If the Viceroy,” asked your correspondent,
declares that he will summon a conference of
*the best Englishmen and the best Indians’, and
if he further agrees that its terms of reference
wiii be to arrange for the estabiishmem
of self-government within the shortest period
practicable, would you accept that gesture ?’*
Mr. Gandhi’s reply was emphatic. “Certainly,
it will be acceptable. In the preliminary confer^
ence it is necessary that the best Englishmen
and the best Indians should meet to adjust
their diflFcrences, but in the framing of the
constitution only Indians must participate.”
“If the Viceroy,” continued Mr. Gandhi with
deliberation, “is authorised to declare that Fhs
Majesty’s Government have definitely come tc
the conclusion that it is the sole right of
India to determine the form of government
under which she would live, and if with that
end he summons a conference of the best
Englishmen and the best Indians — the latter
elected according to an acceptable procedure — tc
devise a method whereby a constituent assembly
can be summoned for the purpose of framing a
constitution and for solving all problems that
may arise, I would accept the proposal.”
“But,” — and here Mr. Gandhi spoke gravely-
“I don't sense the proper atmosphere today.”
Asked whether if His Majesty’s Government
summoned a conference and acted in good faith
Mr. Gandhi would be prepared to use his personal
intlucnce to induce the Congress Ministers to
return to oflSicc, the Mahatma quickly replied:
“ Not unless there is a Hin Ju-Muslim agreemeni:.,
I should wait,”
“You did not deserve the interview,” chaffed
Mr. Gandhi as I said good-bye, “ You brought
a hot wind with you to Sevagram.” The tem-
perature was 108. He laughed uproariously at
my obvious retort : “ It is an ill wind which
brings no one any good.”
( The Times of India, 20-5-40 )
Hindus & Musaimans of India
By AttUananda Chakrabarti
Gandhiji has said of this book:* “If he has stated
the truth and nothing but the truth, it is a reveal-
ing booklet v/liich ■ all Hindus and Muslims may
read with profit.” Price Rs. 2-8-0. Postage 5 As.
extra. Available at ( 1 ) Plarijan office - Poona
and (2) Harijan office -81 Queen’s Road, opp.
Marine Lines Station, Bombay 2.
CONTENTS Page
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 129
Basic Education Ashadevi 130
A Cry from South Orissa A. V. Thakkar 131
Non-Cooperation ... M. K. Gandhi 132
Occasional Notes ... M. D. 133
A Hideous Evil ... A. K. 135
Khadi Work in Tamil Nad-I C. S. 135
An Important Interview ... M. K, Gandhi 136
Note :
Favouritism ... M. K. G. 131
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabbushan Pressi 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poom 4
Ubani^lioii Ratae — IXLANt) : One year, Ri. 4, Six montl^ Ba. 2-8, FoxtMGir : One year, Bi. or, 8 ilu or 2 $»
No. B 3092
fl'
'S/-^rL
EcHitJ? ; MAHADEV DESA3
Yol. VIII, No. 15 ] POONA — SATURDAY. MAY 25, 19-^<0 f ONE ANNA
QUESTION BOX
C By M. K. Gandhi )
Spianing Regularly
Q. What do you mean by ' spinning regu-
larly ’ ? If one spins for a couple of hours
during a month or for half an hour once or
twice a week, would he be deemed to have
satisfied the condition about spinning regularly?
A. ‘ Regularly ’ was put in the place of
' daily This was meant to provide for acciden-
tal or unavoidable omissions. Therefore spinning
every week or at stated intervals will not meet
the case. A satyagrahi will be expected to
spin daily except for valid reasons such as
sickness, travelling or the like.
Satyagraha Camps and Untouchability
Q. Satyagraha camps are being organised for
the training of volunteers all over the country.
But the principle with regard to the renuncia-
tion of untouchability in every shape and form
is not being rigorously enforced. Don’t you agree
that it ought to be made an absolute rule in
the camps that no one who regards the touch
of Harijans as polluting and does not freely mix
with them should be permitted to attend them?
A. I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying
that he who has the slightest untouchability
in him is wholly unfit for enrolment in the
Satyagraha Sena. I regard untouchability as the
root cause of our downfall and of Hindu-
Muslim discord. Untouchability is the curse of
Hinduism and therefore of India. The taint is
so pervasive that it haunts a man even after
he has changed over to another faith.
Partition and Non-Muslims
Q. You have said in Harijan that *'if the
eight crores of Muslims desire partition, no
power on earth can prevent it. ” Does it not
strike you that 25 crores of non-Muslims too
might have a say in the matter ? Does not your
statement imply that you put a premium on
the opinion of the Muslims while underrating
that of the Hindus?
A. I have only given my opinion. If the
majority of Hindus or Christians or Sikhs or
even Parsis, small though their number is, stub-
bornly resist the express wish of the duly
elected representatives of eight crores of Muslims,
they will do so at the peril of a civil war.
This is not a question of majority or minority.
If we are to solve our problems non-violently,
there is no other way. I say this not because
the eight crores . happen to be Muslims. I would
say the same if the sigh: crores were any other
community.
Legal Practice and Satyagraha
Q. Knowing as you do how lying and deceit
have become the stock-in-trade of the legal pro-
fession in this country, would you permit prac-
tising lawyers to enlist as active satyagrahis ?
A. I am unable to subscribe to your sweeping
proposition. The fact that a lawyer wants to
become a satyagrahi presupposes on his part a
certain standard of purification. No doubt there
may be, to my knowledge there arc, black sheep
in the Congress. This is inevitable in any big
organisation. But it would be unbecoming of a
satyagrahi to condemn a man because he belongs
to a certain profession.
Satyagraha and Obstructionism
Q. Is the policy of obstructionism compatible
with satyagraha? Can a satyagrahi, who is sup-
posed to stand for principles rather than party,
adopt one attitude with regard to a measure
when it is sponsored by his party, and another
when the same measure is sponsored by the
opposite party ? Would you approve of this
policy in Municipalities and District Boards as
is being done by some Congressmen at present?
A. I have always opposed obstruction as be-
ing anti-satyagraha. Congressmen, to be correct
in their behaviour, should always give co opera-
tion to their opponents when the latter are in a
majority and adopt any wise measure. The object
of Congressmen should never be attainment of
power for power’s sake. Indeed such discrimi-
natory co-operation will enhance the prestige of
the Congress and may even give it majority.
Training Harijans as Cooks
Q. Don’t you think that, if the Congress star-
ted a plan for training Harijans as expert cooks
for Hindu homes and made it a rule to man every
ashram or a mess meant for Congress workers
with Harijan cooks thus trained, it would prove
a short cut to the removal of untochability 7
A. Our ambition should be to enable Harijans
to rise to the highest rank. But while that
must be the ideal, it will be a good thing to
train some Harijans to become accomplished
cooks. I have observed that the more we draw
them into the domestic circle, the quicker is
the pace of the reform. Harijans who become
absorbed in our homes lose all sense of inferiority
and become a living link between other
Harijans and Savarna Hindus.
Sevagram, 19-5-40
HAE7JAH
KHADI WORK IN TAMILNAD
II
The other feature of the ^ork that desen^es
special notice is the expansion of the self-suffi-
ciency scheme and the efforts to add to the
efficiency and productive capacity of the workers
by introducing improved implements. Thus during
the year 630 thousand lbs. of lint were used,
of which — except 10 thousand lbs. — the entire
quantity was ginned by the spinners themselves
on hand gins. This happened for the first time
since the inception of the khadi movement. The
spinners are reported to have realised the advan-
tage of hand-ginning, and some who have land of
their own have taken to growing their cotton
also. The spinners in Tamil Nad generally do
their own carding. Improved implements were
distributed to them at half the cost price as
follows: 762 gins, 870 spinning wheels. 8,761
speed wheels, 8,472 carding bows, 225 carding
bows. The cost was collected in easy instal-
ments. Harijan spinners were not only given
the implements free of cost, but were paid daily
wages even during the period in which they
learnt spinning. To encourage better spinning 50
tests were conducted in which 439 spinners
participated, of whom as many as 113 showed
a speed of above 400 yards per hour, and about
40 per cent attained an efficiency which would
enable them to earn over 3 As. per day.
Referring to the progress made by the self-
sufficiency scheme, the report says ;
“The message of kliadi has reached more homes
this year- 35,968 saris valued at Rs. 1,78,614
woven from yarn collected hank by liank from the
spinners every time they delivered yarn to us, have
been distributed among the spinners during the ycar.
Besides, khadi other than saris, valued at Rs, 37,052
was also distributed for the use of the other
members in the spinners’ families. It will also be
noted that the first law of production, i. e. tliat the
'producer should be the first consumer of his produce,
has been well kept in view. Of the tota,l yarn
produced, i. e. 90,72i383 hanks, the spinners have
deposited for their own use 28-, 82, 769 hanks, i, e.
nearly 32 per cent of the total output or 47 per
cent of the yarn sold. 227 families in Tamil Nad
got their own yarn woven into cloth through our
various branches. 4,695 sq. yds. of cloth valued
at Rs. 2,334 was thus woven. The total weaving
wages paid under this head was Rs. 591.”
During the year under report the 2.093 weavers
working under the A. I. S. A. earned , Rs.
3,04,050. Their average attendance was 24 \l^eeks
in the year, and the average weekly earning
amounted to Rs. 6-2-3 — by.no means a negli-
gible amount. Whereas most of the mill yarn
weavers began their careers with debt and could
never get free from that burden, the hand
yarn, weavers could not only make . the two
ends meet but were able to make a little
“saving also — the amount deposited by .them
being, at the end of the year, Rs. 27,714-3-8,
or an average of Rs. 13-6-0 per weaver, A
[ may 25, 1940 '■
comparative study of these two classes of weavers
is likely to yield revealing results, and will
prove to the hilt the truth of Gandhfji's dictum
that “ those weavers who do not take to weaving
handspun are cutting their own throats,” and
that “khadi is the weaver’s sole protection^
There is yec another feature in the report
worth noticing. The total turnover during the
year was about Rs. 30 lakhs. The salaries
paid to 365 workers amounted to Rs. 61
thousand, i. e. 2-1 per cent. This figure would
surely compare favourably with the correspond-
ing figure of any other business concern, and
it is creditable for the workers engaged in the
service. The fact that the Branch could carry
on its work with a working capital of Rs. 8
lakhs and odd shows the distinct advantage
enjoyed by khadi over mill production which
would have required a much greater capital.
We shall look forward to getting similar
businesslike reports from other branches of the
A. 1. S. A., for these reports, besides being
authentic records of the progress made by
khadi, are of great value as additions to the
growing volume of literature useful to students
of khadi economics.
c. s.
CHARKHA V. TAKLI
The Secretary of the Tamilnad Branch of the
All India Spinners’ Association writes as follows:
It is not necessary that the charkha alone
should be used for spinning. Spinning on the
takli is as much a training in non-violence. The
takli alone is the handiest spinning implement
that can be used on a mass scale at a short
notice. The reasons are as follows :
1. It will take a long time to provide all
those who register themselves as satyagrahis with
the charkha and its component accessories. With
.the best of efforts it will take at least six
months to complete the equipment. But thou-
sands of taklis can be provided at a very short
notice,
2. The charkha can be used only in the house
of the spinner and does not have much of
demonstration value. But the takli can be used
anywhere and at any time. Takli spinning does
not interfere with our other work. One can be
talking or walking as he or she is spinning. It
is easily carried about, being small enough to go
into a pocket, and when others see us going
about spinning they too fall under the spell and
a spinning atmosphere is created.
3. It will be difficult for everybody who
takes to the satyagraha pledge to learn quickly
the antecedent processes of spinning such as gin-
ning and carding. They will have to depend on
• slivers made ready for them. It will not be
‘ possible to provide everybody with slivers if
everyone takes to charkha-sp inning. Takli-spin-
‘ ning will require less sliver supply. Moreover,
whatever Dev kapaS is available, can be easily
ginned by hand and made into slivers.
'^T ^ -v
^5
'Harija:
139
4. The cheapest charkha costs Rs, 2, It may
TiGt be within the reach of all tc buy one.
But the takli costs only two annas* cne need
not incur even this much of expense. A takli
can be improvised with a bamboo stick and a
stone weight,
5. Spinning on the charkha requires more
training than the takli. The charkha often goes
out of order and requires adjustment. The takli
rarely goes out of order.
A FEAST FOR THE EYES
Shri Dilkhush Diwanji is an M* A. of the
Bombay University, and might have been a pro-
fessor in a college if he had chosen an academic
career. But he elected to settle down in a village
and share the hard lot of the villager. He chose
Karadi, the little village where Gandhiji was
arrested at the end of the Dandi March, for his
field of activities and is conducting a khadi
depot there which I purposely visited on my
way back from Surat. The work thait he is
carrying on, the atmosphere he has created, the
smiling faces not only of the children who
surround him but also of the old women who
flock to the depot — all this was a feast for
the eyes.
For he has made himself one of them. He
lives in a place humbler than theirs, he eats
what they eat, cooking for himself, and lives and
dresses himself like them.
A group of old women — some of, them very
old who could hardly see my face clearly — had
gathered in the depot from a neighbouring village.
Their ages muse be anything between, 50 and 80.
Each one had a little bundle of yarn with her
which she had come to deliver at the depot.
Each had a little pass-book in which every little
detail of her yarn was shown — the weight, the
count, the quality, the wage, etc., wastage, the
yarn deducted for her own khadi, and the date.
Everyone referred to Shri Diwanji as son”,
and the one with whom we began to talk
addressed me also as “son”. This “son”
Diwanji had descended as a “god” among them;
they had no work, they had been put on the
shelves, new they had work and they earned
two to three annas per day. They were proud
of their income wherewith they could make
pmall purchases, including tea, which they
confessed was bad but which nevertheless
had become a need k , -
Everything in the depot was spick and span —
the books, the boxes containing yarn according
to their quality, and the khadi, the sacks of
cleaned and uncleaned cotton, and the stocks of
yarn. There was a method and orderliness about
everything. When the work was started in 1936
there were only 12 wheels, and the wages given
amounted Rs. 277-3-0.' In ;1937 there were 42
wheels, and the work has since increased by
leaps and bounds., The .following figures are
eloquent of the progress : , . * .
19.S7
Vvhseis 42
195S 1939
190 o99
ms. srs. ms. srs.
Yarn 8 3 28 4
me. srs.
115 30
Wages Rs. 1,159-10-0 Rs. 2,033 Rs, 10,593-4-0
Khadi 434 yards 2836 yards 10,198 yards
Khadi / Local Rs. 116-5-0 Rs. 629-15-0 Rs. 2604-15-0
Sales I Outside 157-4-0 Rs. 622-13-0 Rs. 3015-1-0
These are the details of the work done during 1939:
Yarn spun, 115 mds. 30 srs.
Slivers , 113 5 , S
Khadi 10198 Yds.
Worth 5496 Rs.
Khadi f Spinners etc. ■ Rs. 1456-8-0
Sold 4 Other customers Rs. 1148-7-0
to I Outside customers Rs. 3016-1-0
Spinning wheels sold 334
Other articles sold Rs. 332-8-0
Wages distributed in 1939
117 Cotton cleaners
4 Ginners
22 Carders
699 Spinners
8 Weavers
Others
Rs. 49-14-6
Rs. 17-11-0
Rs. 1074-12-9
Rs. 7156 — 6-9
Rs. 1836—1-6
Rs, 258—5-3
7 Workers in charge of Depot Rs. 654 — 0-0
The boys in the Local Board school at Matwad
have their spinning hour with Shri Diwanji.
There is half an hour’s silent spinning and half
an hour’s talk on the topics of the day. They
asked me intelligent questions. They are all free
from drink and the “ petty vices “ of smoking,
tea-drinking, etc. There is an intelligent appre-
ciation among the village-folk of the work that
is going on, and I should not be surprised if the
boys who are coming under Shri Diwanji’s
influence were’ to ’ develop into workers in
the cause of the uplift of their community.
Sevagram, 14-5-40 M. D.
Handmade Paper
We stock handmade paper in about 75 varieties
made in 12 different producing centres in India —
Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Erandol, Hyderabad ( Dn. ),
Jaipur, Kalpi, Koratla, Nepal, Outshahi, Sialkot,
Sodepur and Wardha — from the thinnest tissue
paper and air mail paper to the thickest paper, and
in many different colours, to suit various tastes and
requirements. It is sold in the form of whole sheets,
letter paper, envelopes (over 50 varieties), blotting
•paper, cards, account books, office files, tag labels,
and pocket books. Samples are sent on receipt of two
anna postal stamps. A saniple file (which is a
miniature exhibition in itself ) is sent on receipt of
Re- 1 ( per V, P. P. Rs. 1-3-0 ). It is up to
patriotic persons to give ’ handmade paper a chance
whenever they require any of the things mentioned
above. ( 1 ) Harijan Office — Poona 4; ( 2 ) Harijan
Office Branch — 81 Queen’s Road, 0pp. Marine Lines
Station, Bombay 2.
Hindus & Musalmans of India
By Atulananda Chakraharti
' Gandhiji has said of this book : ** If he has stated
the truth and nothing but the truth, it is a reveal-
ing booklet which all Hindus and Muslims may
read with profit.” Price Rs. 2-8-0. Postage 5 As*
extra. Available at' (1) Harijan office -'Poona 4,
and (2*) Harijan office -81 Queen’s Road, opp.
Marine Lines Station, Bombay 2.
OUR DUTY
{By M. K. Gandhi)
In view of further ruthless aggression by Nazi
Germany and the fact that Britain is hard pressed
and going through deep waters today, does not non-
violence demand that we should say to her that,
while we do not resile in llie voiy least from our
position nor withdraw an iota of our demand so far
as her relationship with us and our future arc con-
cerned, we do not desire to embarrass her in dire
distress and will definitely, therefore, defer all thoughts
and all talk of a civil disobedience movement for the
time being ? Do not our minds rebel against the very
idea of a domination such as Nazidom is avowedly stand-
ing for today? Is not the whole future of a humane
civilisation at slake ? It is true that our independence
from an alien rule is also a matter of life and death to
us. But when Britain is up against an aggressor
who is definitely pursuing barbarous methods, should
we not make a timely and human gesture which
should in the end win the heart of our opponent?
Even if such a gesture makes no impression on her
and an honourable settlement is impossible, will it
still not be the higher and ennobling thing for us
to offer non-violent battle when she is not beset on
all sides? Will it not require greater strength in
us and therefore mean greater and more lasting
benefit, and will it not be a glorious example for a
warring world? Will it not also be a proof that
non-violence is pre-eminently a weapon of the strong?”
Perhaps this correctly represents the sentiment
of several correspondents who have written to
me since the Norwegian setback. It is evidence
of the nobility of the hearts of these corres-
pondents. But there is want of appreciation of
the reality. These letters ignore British nature.
British people stand in no need of sympathy
from subject people. For they can command
all they want from them. They are a brave
and proud people. They are not going to be
■dernoralised by even half a dozen such setbacks.
They are well able to cope with any difficulty
that may face them. India has no say whatso-
ever in the manner in which she is to take
her part in the war. She was dragged into
the war by the mere wish of the British
Cabinet. Her resources are being utilised at the
will of the British Cabinet. India is a dependency,
and Britain will drain the dependency dry as she
has done in the past. What gesture has the
Congress to make in these circumstances ? The
greatest gesture in its power the Congress is
already making. It creates no trouble in the
country. It refrains in pursuance of its own
policy. I have said and I repeat that I shall
<io nothing wilfully to embarrass Britain. It will
be contrary to ,my conception of Satyagraha.
Beyond this it is not iu the power of the
Congress to go.
Indeed it is the duty of the Congress to
proseciire its demand for independence and to
continue the preparations for civil disobedience
to the fullest extent it can. The nature of the
preparations should be appreciated. To promote
khadi and village industries, communal unity,
removal of untouchability, prohibition, and to
this end to enlist and train Congress members.
Is this preparation to be suspended ? I dare say
that, if the Congress truly becomes non-violent
and in pursuance of the policy of non-violence
it successfully carries out the constructive work
I have mentioned, it will be able to have in-
dependence without doubt. Then will be the
time for India as an independent nation to decide
what aid she should give to Britain and how.
The Congress contribution to the cause of
the Allies in so far as it may be good, and to
the world peace, is its active pursuance of
non-violence and truth and the prosecution of
its goal of Complete Independence without
abatement and without delay.
Britain is really damaging her own cause by
persistently refusing to examine the Congress
position and recognise its justice and in raising
false issues. The Constituent Assembly of the
kind proposed by me provides for every diffi-
culty except one, if it is a difficulty. It does
not provide for British interference in the shap-
ing of India’s destiny. If that is put forth as
a difficulty, the Congress must wait til! it is
acknowledged that it is noi:. only uo dlluculty
and that self-determination is India’s indisput-
able right.
In this connection let me refer to the letters
I have received accusing me of unwillingness to
declare civil disobedience under some pretext
or other. These friends must know that I am
more concerned than they in the successful
demonstration of the weapon of non-violence. I
am not giving myself a minute’s rest from the
pursuit of the search. I am ceaselessly praying
for light. But I cannot precipitate civil dis-
obedience because of outside pressure, even as
I will not refrain because of such pressure. I
know that this is the time of my greatest trial-
I have overwhelming evidence to show that there
is much violence in the hearts of many Congress-
men and that there is much selfishness. If Con-
gressmen were imbued with the true spirit of
non-violence, we would have had independence
in 1921 and our history would have been written
differently. But I must not complain. I must
work with the tools I have. Only let Congress-
men know the cause of my seeming inaction.
Sevagram, 20-5-40
OLD ISSUES
Issues of Vols. I to VI of 'Hariatt * can be had from
us for 3 As. per copy (including postage). Issues of
Vol- 8 will be had at the published price plus
postage. Manager
141
'li'AY 25, 1940 ]
HAxlIJAI'T
GOD-3FESD
A band of Muslim volumceeTS about 30 sttong,
led by Abid All Saheb and AH Bahadur Khan
Saheb, returning from the Azad Muslim Con-
ference held at Delhi, called at Sevagram the
other day They travelled all the way from
Bombay to Delhi and back in a motor-bus halt-
ing at important places to carry on Hindu-
Muslim unity propaganda, and the account of
their esperiences was quite thrilling and suScient
to fill one with hope. The ideal way to do
■this kind of propaganda is to perform such a
tour on foot, but the way adopted by these
Bombay friends was certainly a second-best, and
perhaps the most expeditious and best for people
who have not the time a journey on foot
• demands. They held big mass meetings wherever
•they halted, talked with people dispelling their
• doubts and fears, and did some reconciliation
work too. Thus at Jwalapur, they said, the
relations between Hindus and Muslims were far
•from good and there was even fear of a riot.
After these friends went there and had a talk
•with leaders of parties a reconciliation was
brought about with the result that a meeting
was held in the mosque and it was attended
•by hundreds of Hindus. At some places there
•were slight disturbances, but as the friends
-were determined to do nothing by way of
retaliation the disturbances were confined to
one side only and were futile. The friends had
•composed a song Zanda uncha rahe hamara
specially for the tour which they sang wherever
they went and marched in procession. It' was
so simple and musical and so full of words
of every day usuage among both Hindus and
Muslims that it caught on, and lots of people
took it down to commit to memory.
It was plucky and resourceful to have planned
this excursion. I dare say it was much less
■ expensive than a train-journey and obviously
most fruitful. For 27 to 30 people to travel
miles on end in an ordinary Ford motor bus
with all their belongings, at the height of the
■summer, was no joke. But they bore all the
•discomforts cheerfully and looked none the
worse -for roughing it out.
As they left Sevagram after a few minutes’
i:alk about their experiences with Gandhiji and
Pandit Jawaharlal who was here that day, they
asked for Gandhiji’s message. “My message has
been already given, and I have none new to
give you,” he said to them. “All I will say
is that now that you have actively taken up
this great mission, you will not cease from
your effort until Hindu-Muslim unity is achiev-
ed, I would ask you to forget that you have
any quarrel with the Muslim League people.
Your object differs ftom theirs, but they also
are our brothers and you cannot convert them
unless you treat them as such and refrain
from all personal attacks. You have to carry
•conviction to them, for unless you or we can
win rhem over shere is v.o Kindu-M’jslim
unhy, I ■wis’e ycj. god-spsK’. ”
Se-^agra'", 21-5-40 M, iO.
THIS PIOTUES AND TRAT
“ Unliappily..., the system ci Government pursued...
has been based on the policy of psrpefiating that
very separation of the races and encouraging those
very notions of conflicting nationalities which it
ought to have been the first and chief care of
Governni'int to cbsch and e:-:tiiignish. Trom the
period of conquest to the pre-serr tlnrt, t'ne conduct
of the Government has aggravated the evils, and the
origin of the present extreme disorder may be found
in the institutions by which the character of the
colony was determined... The Imperial Government...
has shaped its policy so as to aggravate the disorder.
In some instances it has actually conceded the
mischievous ^etensiom of tiationality in order to
evade popular claim. The alternate concessions to
the contending races have only irritated both, and
impaired the authority of the Government. ” ( Italics
mine )
This is not an indictment of the separate
electorates or of the ‘ Divide and Rule ’ policy
of the British Indian Government but only
extracts from Lord Durham’s Report on Canada.
Communal cleavages are today being aggravated
and exploited by Britain to keep India out of
her own. All this is a replica of what happen-
ed in Canada. A cursory review of the story
of Canada and the striking parallels to our own
case with which it is replete, therefore, would
not be uncalled for at this juncture.
Divide and Rule Policy in Canada
The first settlement of the Canadas was made
in the proclamation of 1763, soon after their
acquisition from the French King by the Treaty
of Paris. Close upon its heels followed those
discontents which resulted in the Independence
of the States of America. To prevent the fur-
ther dismemberment of the Empire henceforth
became the primary object of British statesmen,
and “an especial anxiety was exhibited to adopt
every expedient which appeared calculated to
prevent the remaining North American colonies
from following the example of successful revolt.”
For this purpose the distinct national character
of the French inhabitants of Canada, and their
ancient hostility to the people of New England,
presented the easiest and most obvious line of
demarkation. “To isolate the inhabitants of the
British from those of the revolted colonies, became
the policy of the Government, and the nationality
of the French Canadian was therefore cultivated,
as a means of perpetual and entire separation
from their neighbours” It also became the “con-
sidered policy” of the British Government “ to
govern its colonies by means of division, and to
break them down as much as possible into petty
isolated communities, incapable of combination,
and possessing no sufficient strength for individual
resistance to the Empire.” The language question
was not left unexploited. Further to separate the
HAELiAN
14i
French of Canada from the British emi^?rants a
plan vv’as adopted '‘to conciliate the former by the'
retention of their languages, laws and religions
institutions.’* In Prince Edward’s Island a condi-
tion was annexed to the grants of land which
may fitly be described as a Canadian prototype,
of the Punjab Land Alienation Act, It stipulated
that the , Island was to be settled by ‘ foreign
Protestants “ as if they were to be foregin in
order to s eparate them from the people of New
England, and Protestants in order to keep them
apart from the Canadian and Acadian Catholics.’'
The Indian reader will not fail to trace in
this picture the familiar lineaments of the present
day ' Divide and Rule ’ policy that is being
pursued in India, In fact almost every one of
the divisive expedients which finds its apologists
among the high priests of the British ruling
class today will be found’ stripped of its sancti-
monious mask ^ and exposed in its nakedness in’
Lord Durham’s Report.'
Canada’s Reply
Nor were the results dissimilar from ours. On,
his arrival in Canada Lord Durham found himself
confronted by “jealousy between two races, so long
habituated to regard each other with hereditary
enmity, and so diflFereing in habits, in language’
and in laws. ” “I expected to find a conflict between
a Government and a people, but I found two
nations warring in the bosom of a single state....
a struggle not of principles, but of races.”
Previous to this, in 1833, the Lower Canada
Assembly had put forward the suggestion of a
“Convention” for the redress of their grievances,
the request being repeated in the petition which
was sent by the Assembly to the King soon
afterwards. It was to the effect that “ dele-
gates freely and indiscriminately chosen by all
classes of the community so as to be in harmony
with the interests of the province should
recommend the proper inodifications in govern-
ment.” “ A general Assembly of this kind,” it’’
was said, “ would prove to be a faithful inter-
preter of all the interests of the colony taken
collectively.’ ( Kennedy : Statutes, Treaties and'
Documents of the Canadian Constitution, 2nd Edi-
tion, p. 264) The reply of the Secretary of
State for the Colonial Department in answer to
this petition might as well have dropped from
Sir Samuel Hoare’s or Lord Zetland’s lips during'
a debate on the Indian demand for a Constitu-
ent Assembly. “The object of ,the address,”
it ran, “ is to pray his Majesty to sanction a
National Convention of the people of Canada,
for the purpose pf superseding the legislative
authorities. ..His Majesty can never be advised to'
assent, as deeming it inconsistent with the very
existence of monarchical institutions.” Nor did
Canadian insistence on “conventions of the people”
in the Ninety two Resolutions of 1834 gain much
support with the British Cabinet. In desparation!
Assembly had recourse to t!he only sanctSjon
known to antf 'r^cpgnisejd, in the l^st resort, by
’ constitutional .practice, viz. './threat of
[ May 25, 1940
Durham's Panacea
. It was to propose a remedy for this state ct
things that Lord Durham was sent to Canada.
During the recent India Debate, it was ingeni-
ously argued by some speakers, in their anxiety
to combat the Indian demand for a Constituent
Assembly, notably by Sir George Schuster, that
in India the democratic system on which political
life in the West is based cannot, owing to the
communal situation that prevails here, “ really
function as we know it ”, and that some distinc-
tive type would, therefore, have to be evolved.
There w'cre not wanting protagonists of Sir
George even in Lord Durham s time who
similarly argued that the representative system
of Government was unsuited to the Canadian
conditions, and that “ the principles, which are
productive of harmony and good government in
the mother country, are by no means applicable
to a colonial dependency,” Lord Durham’s reply
to these objectors would serve equally for out-
present-day, Imperialists like Sir George too.
“ It needs no change in the principles of Govern-
ment, ” contended Durham, “ no invention of a new
constitutional theory, to apply the remedy which
would, iu my opinion, completely remove the exist-
ing political disorders. It needs but to follow out
consistently the principles of the Dritish constitutior
and introduce into tho Government of those great
colonies those wise provisions, by which alone Ihr
working of tho representative system can in any
country be rendered harmonious and efficient I
know not how it is possible to secure that harmony
in any other way, than by administering the Govern-
ment on those principles which have been founi.'!
perfectly efficacious in Great Britain.”
Imperialists Debunked
Equally withering was his reply to upholders
of the ‘ trusteeship ’ doctrine who maintained
that Providence had made them responsible for
the good, government of Canada for all time:
‘'The .colonists may not always know what laws
are , best for them, or wliich of their countrymen arc
the , fittest for conducting their affairs; but, at least,
they have a greater interest in coming to a right
judgment on these points, and will take greater
pains to do so than those whose welfare is very
remotely and slightly affected by the good or bad
legislation of these portions of the Empire. If the
colonists make bad laws, and select improper persons
to conduct their ajtTairs, they will generally be the
only, the greatest, sufferers; and, like the people of
other countries, they must bear the ills wffiicl:
they bring on themselves until they choose to applv
the remedy. But it surely cannot be the duty oi
the interest of Great Britain to keep a most expen-
sive military possession of these colonies in order
that a Governor or a Secretary of State may be
SLble to confer colonial appointments on one rather
than another set of persons in the colonies. For
this IS really 'the only question at issue.”
’ Lastly, there was, ,.the group of habitual pessi-
mists, who condemned all change in advance on.
the Aground of past failures and used it as a..
oiea for the maintenar.ee of si::tus quo which
provided a happy hunting ground to self-centred*
wooden- minded imperialists. “ We may derive
some confidence from the recollection, ’ Lord
Durham sardonically told them* that very simple
. remedies yet remain to be resorted to for the
.first time.’'
Therapeutic FunedoEs of Freedom
Instead of using the mischievous pre’centiens
of nationality” to "‘evade the popular ciaim”,
as the British Government had done hitherto
and has been doing since in India and elsewhere,
he followed the only honourable and straight-
forward course by prescribing what Professor
Chestor Martin of Toronto University has des-
cribed as ‘ the therapeutic function of freedom to
engender goodwill and co-operation in this wicked
world.” “ V/hen I look on the various and deep-
rooted cause of mischief which the past inquiry
has pointed out as existing in every institution, in
the constitutions and in every composition of
society throughout the greater part of these
Provinces,” he observed, “I almost shrink from
the- apparent presumption of grappling with these
difficulties. Nor shall I attempt to do so in detail,
I rely on the efficacy of reform in the' constitutional
system ' by ivliich these colonies are governed for
the removal of every abuse in their administration
which defective institutions have engendered. ” (Italics
mine ) History has fully vindicated Lord Durham’s
judgment, and the policy which he recommend-
ed has since come to be acknowledged as the
high-water-mark of Btitish statefsmanship and
' political wisdom. '
The Rockbottom Truth
The acceptance of Lord Durham’s recommenda-
tions by the British Government was due not
to an overflow of altruism, but to the rise and
growth of the United States of America as a
powerful independent nsftion to which Lord
Durham drew pointed attention of the Home
Government : ,
” I am, in trath, so far from believing that the
increased power and weight that would be given to
these colonies by union would .endanger their connec-
tion with the Empire that I look to it as the only
means of fostering such a national feeling through-
out them as would effectively counterbalance what-
ever tendencies may now exist towards separation...
alist hold. She will sing ir.
ent tune when the logic cl
her vision and chastened her
Sevagram, 14-5-40
aLcgether di&c-
o'rer.ts purified
■j nder;s:arid*ng.
G^mmeudahie
Shri Pragjf Desai has sent us a brief report
of good work done by the people of icebapur,
a little villrge in Surat district, for distressed
Ifiiarljans, In Lfiarch last year a die broke cut
in Ifiarijans’ ’ quarters which coDsisred mostly of
grass huts built side hy side, and before any
effective help could be given they were all
reduced to ashes along with every one of the
Harijans’ humble belongings, their little stores of
grain and so on, and they simply had to escape
with their lives. Fourteen families were thus
rendered homeless and helpless. Shri Pragji
Desai, whose village is near by, ran to the spot
held a meeting of the village folk, and asked
them to start collections in order to rebuild the
Harijans’ huts. The people responded readily and
collected on the spot nearly Rs. 150. They had
already given to the Harijans help in the shape
of food and clothes, but this little fund became
a nucleus for a fund to be collected by a com-
mitte composed of the Patel and others with Shri
Pragji Desai as Chairman, who now went to the
neighbouring places and to Bombay to make more
collections. The Mayavumshi Harijans of Bombay
took up the work in right earnest and collected
‘ something like Rs. 500. Other donations came . in
from Hindus, Muslims and Parsis, with the result
that dver Rs. 2;000 were collected ( including the
gift of timber, etc. ) apd the Harijans of Iccha-
pur are again housed in their own dwellings.
All this was the result of a voluntary effort .
The villagers did not . approach the Harijan
Sevak Sangh nor did they approach any out-
siders until they had contributed their mites,
and that is why within a short time they were
able to restore their homes to the homeless.
Icchapur’s example is really commendable. Let
the people of Ichhapur go a step further now
and abolish untouchability by asking the .Harijans
to come and live along with the rest of the
inhabitants rather than be confined to their
“ untouchable ” quarters. Without that thing
being done there cannot be true reparation.
Sevagram, 21-5-40 M. D.
The influence of the United States surrounds him
( the colonist of Great Britain ) on every side and
is for ever present.... If we v/ish to prevent the
extension of this influence, it can only be done by
raising up for the North American colonist .some
nationality of his own; and by giving their inhabi-
tants a country which they will be unwilling to see
absorbed into one more powerful.”
The argument applies mutatis mutandis to the
Indian .demand for Independence. But today,
■instead of regarding our communal troubles as her
concern, Britain hurls them in our face as a
challenge, and magnifies them .before the world
as an excuse for the continuance of her Imperi-
Home and Village Doctor
By Sattsh Chandra Dasgupta
1384 pages.. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages*
219 illustrations. Price Rs. S cloth-bound; By V. P,
P. Rs^ 6. -Rs, -6 leather-bound; ByV- P. P. .Rs. 7.
Published by Khadi Pratisthan, 15 College Square.
Calcutta. Available at ( 1 ) Harijan office — Poona 4;
( 2 ) . Harijan office. — 81 Queen’s Road, opp. Marine
Lines . Station, Bombay 2. , : I
Mahatma Gandhi
By S, Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 7 As. Available at Harijan pfficdrPoon^ 4.
and 67 & 81 Queen's Road, Bombay 2.
144
HABIJAN
I May 25, 1940
Hisn-Resistancs
I read the following in the daily press;
”A petition signed by a number of Muslims has
been sent to the Corporation authorities that® if ‘■heir
previous representations for the removal of Gandhiji s
portrait from all Corporation schools for Muslim boys
and girls is not acceded to, the institutions will be
boycotted. They contend that the display of the
portrait is a form of hero worship, v;hich is anti-
Islamic. ”
Assuming the truth of the statement, I would
strongly advise compliance with the Muslim
demand. Nothing is to be gained by the Congress
party resisting the demand. At the same time
I would suggest to the leaders of the agitation
that it is supported by wrong argument. For
they have surely their own heroes. The proper
and conclusive argument is that I am no longer
their hero. Heroes change with the times. It is
well for public bodies to accommodate them-
selves to such changes.
Five Questions
1. Can satyagrahis ( i. e, those who have signed
the satyagraha pledge) offer defence when they are
arrested ?
2. May a satyagrahi make an effort to get better
class treatment, i. e. * A ’ or ‘ B ’ ?
3. Ought a satyagrahi in jail to acquiesce in the
conditions imposed upon him, or should he endeavour
to secure what he regards more humane and satis^
factory treatment?
4. What is the minimum time for which a satya-
grahi ought to spin or what is the minimum quantity
of yarn he should produce?
5. Can a man sign the satyagraha pledge imme-
diately you declare civil disobedience and court arrest,
or is there any definite period for which he should
have remained a satyagrahi to be eligible to take
part in the civil disobedience campaign ?
Answers :
1. There is no objection to offering defence,
and in certain cases it would be a duty to do
so as, say, in the Ajmer case.
2. In my opinion he should not make any
attempt to alter the class. Personally I am
against any classification.
3. He is entitled to make every legitimate
effort for change to human conditions.
4. I think one hour per day should be the
minimum and 300 rounds per hour is a reasonable
speed. Men engaged in public work may spin less.
5. A man who intentionally refrains from
signing a pledge in order to avoid fulfilment of
conditions is a cheat and unworthy of being a
satyagrahi. But I can conceive an honest man
just signing the pledge and straightaway going
to jail. Even at the risk of losing prospective
pledge-takers and those who have taken the
pledge, I would say that there is no immediate
prospect of my giving the call.
Sevagram, 20-5-40
Andrews’ Siafluence
Mr, A. G. Fraser of Elgin, Scotland, sends me
the following touching letter about Deenabandhu;
I write to you because of the great joy and
inspiration you were to him who has just left uSj.
Charlie Andrews, and because you, perhaps more
than any other, will feel his loss. He has had a
great and deeply joyful life, and amongst all the
many things which made it rich, your friendship
was one of the foremost. For your pleasure in him
I would like to tell you one story of him.
The noblest of British Governors that I have
kuowu, Sir Guiueu Gaggisberg, whu iileraliy gave
his life for Africans, was anxious to know Charlie
and he asked me to arrange a meeting, if possible
for lunch in his club, the Army and Navy club in
Pall Mall. It is one of the most rigid clubs in
London in its standard of dress, so I told Gaggis-
berg that Charlie would not be dressed for clubland.
He did not care about that, so the lunch was
arranged. On the day, I was seated with Sir Gor-
den when the porter came and said : * Sir,
there is a man at the door who says be has an
appointment with you, but I did not like to let
him in till you had seen him.’ I said to Gaggis-
berg, * That’s Charlie,* and it was. He was worse
dressed than I have ever known him to be in
Europe. But Gaggisberg was too delighted to meet
him to think of that. We had lunch at a small
central table and admirals, generals, governors came
up to greet Gaggisberg who was newly back in
England, He introduced them all to Charlie. Thus
wc retired to an alcove for a quiet talk, and
Charlie’s visit to British Guiana was fixed up.
Thus Charlie had to go and Gaggisberg saw him
down to the street and finding a taxi himself for
him put him into it. As the taxi left he followed
it with his eyes, his head bent. It disappeared
round a corner and he stood very still. Then he
turned to me and said, ‘ I feel
as though I
had
been honoured to give lunch to
my Lord.* It
was
the meeting of two great men,
and they met
for
the sake of Indian labourers in
Guiana.
You will greatly feel his loss
at this time,
more
than even we who loved him here can know.
. But
we do pray that you and India
through you
may
he blessed, and you will be blessed.*’
Sevagram, 7-5-40
M. K.
G.
CONTENTS
i Page
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi
137
Khadi Work in Tamil
Nad-11
C. S.
138
Charkha V. Takli ... C
;. A. Aiyamuthu
138
A Feast for the Eyes ...
M. D.
139
Our Duty
M. K. Gandhi
140
God-Speed
M. D.
141
This Picture and That ...
Pyarelal
141
Note :
Commendable
M. D.
143
Non-resistance
M. K. G.
144
Five Questions
M. K. G.
144
Andrews’ Influence
M. K. G.
144
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saiiof : MAHADEV DESA!
VoL. Vin. No. 16 ] POONA — SATURDAY, JUNE 1. 1940 i ONE ANNA
QUESTION BOX
C By M. K. Gandhi )
Whole of Spare Time
Q, You say an active satyagrahi should
devote the whole of his spare time to con-
structive work. What is your conception of
spare time?
A. Every minute that is not required for my
necessary private work would be spare time.
A merchant whose whole time is occupied in
making money — nothing inherently wrong in it,
if it is honestly made and equally honestly
spent — naturally has no spare time. He cannot
become an active satyagrahi. An active satya-
grahi will give the least time to his private
work. The balance is his spare time. For an
active satyagrahi time is more than money. He
should therefore be able to give a good account
of every minute. In these matters the ultimate
judge is oneself.
How to Use Vacation
Q, What can students do during vacation ?
They do not want to study and would get
tired of constant spinning.
A. If they get tired of spinning, it shows
that they have not understood its life-giving
property ’and its intrinsic facination. What is
the difficulty in understanding that every yard
spun adds to the national wealth ? A yard of
yarn is not much, but as it is the easiest form
of labour it can be easily multiplied. Thus the
potential value of spinning is very great. Students
are expected to understand the mechanism of the
charkha and keep it in good order. Those who
do so, will find a peculiar facination in spinning.
I refuse, therefore, to suggest any other occupa-
tion. But of course spinning may give place to
more pressing work — I mean more pressing in
point of time. Their help may be required in
putting the neighbouring villages in a good
sanitary condition and in attending to the sick
or in educating Harijan children, etc.
Honest Doubt
Q. Some of us belong to that section of
Congress workers who are not firmly of the
opinion that the charkha is no good and has to
be discarded along with your leadership at the
earliest possible date. Nor do we belong to
that happy band of your followers who have
an unshakable faith in the political, economi-
cal and spiritual mission of the charkha. We
believe in khadi — at any rate in the present
circumstances of our country. But we cannot
truthfully say tha: we understand the necessity
for ourselves spinning. We are city people, and
there is very little scope for the charkha here
as a bread- giver. However, we are anxious to
be enrolled as satyagrahis. We can promise that
we shall- conscientiously spin as required by you,
but we are not in a position to promise that
faith in it which you desire. It is possible that
as we ply the charkha the faith may come.
But, for the present, it is as we have stated.
Can we honestly sign the satyagraha pledge ?
A. Of course you can be enrolled. All those
who spin do not do so because of the bread-
giving property of the wheel. Many spin for
sacrifice, to set a good example, and to create
the spinning atmosphere.
Test for All Members
Q. I am one of the secretaries of a Congress
committee, I have a feeling that some of those
who have signed the pledge are not carrying
it out — particularly the clause about spinning.
Can we put to them the question, whether
they spin or not ? And, if we feel that their
answers are evasive or untrue, is it part of our
duty to hold an enquiry into the matter? Some
of us feel that we must accept their word, and
not be too searching,
A. As secretaries it is your duty to devise
rules so that there would be an automatic test
for all members, not merely for doubtful ones,
spinning or not spinning. One test will be that
the members deliver to a depot the yarn they
spin. Every member is expected to keep a
daily record of his output. But a nagging
inquiry should undoubtedly be avoided.
Recruitment v. Constructive Work
Q, Which would you prefer — whether we
should devote all our time to recruiting satya-
grahis or set about organising consructive work
with the satyagrahis that we already have on hand?
A. Of course you will organise constructive
work with those you have. This will by itself
attract recruits.
Men and Women
Q, I should like to know whether you would
approve of men and women satyagrahis mixing
promiscuously and working together, or whether
they should be organised into separate units
with a clear delimitation of the field of each.
My experience is that the former must lead, as
it has led, to a lot of indiscipline and corrup-
tion, If you agree with me, what rules would
you suggest to combat the potential evil?
146
HARIJAN [ JUNE 1, 1940
A. I should like to have separate units.
Women have more than enough work amongst
women. Our womenfolk are terribly neglected,
and hundreds of intelligent women workers of
sterling honesty are required to work among them.
On principle too I believe in the two sexes
functioning separately. But I would lay down
no hard and fast rules. Good sense must govern
zhe relations between the two. There should be
no barrier erected between the two. Their
mutual behaviour should be natural and spon-
taneous,
Khadi and Advertisement
Q. Do you approve of the policy that is
being followed by the Charkha Sangh in some
places, of pushing the sale of khadi by the use,
for instance, of loud speakers, popular gramophone
records and the like? Don’t you think that
advertising apart from supplying the necessary
information about the marketing of khadi is
undignified and incompatible with the khadi
spirit ?
A. I see nothing wrong or undignified in
making use of loud speakers, etc., to popularise
khadi. Through these means too one does no
more than give the prices and other information
about khadi. It will be certainly undignified
and worse if false information is given whether
with or without the use of loud speakers and
the like.
Will to Live
Q. It has been said that the “ will to live”
is irrational; being born of a deluded attachment
to life. Why is then suicide a sin ?
A. The will to live is not irrational. It is
also natural. Attachment to life is not a delu-
sion, it is very real. Above all, life has a pur-
pose. To seek to defeat that purpose is a sin.
Therefore suicide is very rightly held to be a sin.
Sevagram, 28-5-40
THREE WITNESSES
Apropos of the suggestion that the Congress
should suspend its struggle and help Britain in
her extremity, a European friend exclaimed ;
“ How will suspension help the Allies ? The
Congress occupies its present position owing to the
prestige which her moral struggle gives her. To
suspend the struggle is to destroy her status.
Nazism will not be overthrown on the battle-field.
It is the product of the last war. Today the
Germans believe with the rest that the only effec-
tive sanction for the establishment of right in the
present-day world is force. Their conviction is based
on their past experience. The only effective check
against Nazism is the successful application of the
Congress principle of satyagraha for gaining Indian
independence and liquidating a centuries old dispute
with Britain. The Congress is unknowingly helping
the Allied cause and the German people by un-
compromisingly adhering to her full demand in terms
of satyagraha and refusing to take advantage of
Eritain’s distress.”
It is interesting to note how even a military
authority like Captain Liddell Hart arrives at a
similar conclusion by arguing from altogether
different premises. It was some time back that
he gave the warning that nothing could be more
fatal to the Allied cause than to pin their faith
on a smashing victory on the battle-field. Here
is what he has recently written in The Sunday
Dispatch, After discussing the possibility of a
huge German offensive and extensive air raids
by the Allies into the heart of Germany, he
observes :
“Cannot we find a better way, a way of ‘curing
Hitlerism’ instead of merely crushing it down — to
spring up again after another period of enforced
and embittered peace?
A declaration that we were renouncing military
assault as a means of curing aggression would
be a far-sighted move, reinforcing our moral posi-
tion, while forestalling the growth of disillusionment
over our apparent inactivity.
It might well be the first point in the develop-
ment of a new technique for countering aggression,
one suited to present-day conditions and our parti-
cular situation.
It should be reinforced by such a statement of
our war aims brief but sufficiently explicit, as would
make it clear that the German people, individually
and collectively, have more to gain than to lose by
a return to peaceful conditions on the basis of
mutual agreement; and that their enjoyment of such
a prospect is bound up with the recognition and
restoration of the rights of other people.
So long as the Allied statesmen use Ihe old
military language about ‘victory’, so long will the
German people naturally interpret the idea of peace
in terms of Versailles,”
It is the fashion these days to dub those
who advocate this line of thinking as visionaries,
while those who swear by the undiluted might
of armaments and “ cannon fodder ” anyhow
obtained are described as realists. To such the
following from World Youth should act as an
eye-opener :
“ Those who call themselves realists too often
distort the meaning of the terms. A realist is one
who can accept a fact. And no fact has been more
conclusively proved than that peace by conquest is
no peace^ but war on a new front. Peace is bred
when the strong surrenders to the weak the rights
he could withhold. Peace is never achieved by
victory over others, but only by victory over one’s
self; by a proud and confident adherence to the
principle of right, and of rights — the rights of others
as precious as one’s own, "
Sevagram 28-5-40 Pyarelal
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By Atulananda Chakrabarti
Price Rs. 2-8-0. Postage 4 As. extra.
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Available at (l) Harijan office -Poona 4, and
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June 1, 1940 i
147
HAEIJA]Sr
OCCASIONAL NOTES
The Hoiflir of Peril
The latest, and one may hope the last, phase
cf the war is, to adopt Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s
description, a Napoleonic phase. The use of the
word by one who is a sworn enemy of Im-
perialism no less than he is of Nazism is signi-
ficant. Imperialism and all its ruinous history
apart, there is no question in anybody’s mind
that the arch-aggressor in the war is Hitler,
and when one thinks of his sweeping and even
pictorious aggression one automatically uses the
phrase * Napoleonic That the hour of peril is
near and the situation as grave as it can possi-
bly be is apparent from the statements of British
and French statesmen. What could be more
significant than these ringing words of Mr,
Atlee who appealed to his countrymen to sacrifice
their all in order to express “ the will and
determination of a free people”:
“The Government is convinced that now is the
time when we must mobilise to the full the whole
resources of this country. We must throw all our
weight into the struggle. Every private interest must
give way to the urgent need of the community. We
cannot know what the next few weeks or even days
may bring forth, but whatever may come, we shall
meet it as British people in the past have met
dangers and overcome them. But it is necessary
that the Government should be given complete control
over persons and property, not just some persons or
some particular class of community, but over all
persons rich or poor, employer or worker, man or
woman, or property... What is proposed is that there
should be control over persons and over property. The
Minister cf Labour will be given power to direct any
person to perform any services required. That does
not necessarily mean service in munitions or factories-
It does not apply only to workmen. It applies to
everybody. Everybody alike must be under this
control. He will be able to prescribe the terms of
remuneration, terms of labour, or hours of service.
Remuneration will be on the basis of remuneration
for the job. If an engineer is asked to do an
engineer’s work, he gets an engineer’s pay. If some-
one else is asked to do the job, he gets the pay
of that job. If a professional man has to do profe-
ssional work, he gets the professional pay; but if he
is asked to do manual work, he gets the manual pay.’’
That is the least that those who have the
honour to belong to a free nation should do in
the hour of its peril. .
India’s Part
Hitler’s Nepoleonic exploits have stirred some
of us to make statements which do credit to
their generous impulses but not to their sense
of reality. What can India in her crippled state
of dependence do ? Have Indians “ the will and
the determination of a free people”? Even one
like Dr. R. P, Paranjpye has made this admis-
sion : ” The policy of the Government has been
to keep Indians absolutely dependent on Britain
for their defence. This policy is now seen to
have been absolutely short-sighted. Even now
no attempt is being made to organise the man
power and resources of India at least for local
defence. With longer vision India would have
been able to give material help to Britain in
her hour of trial.”
Moral Gesture Needed
Pandit Jawaharlal put the moral issues quite
clearly in his forceful statement made at the
early stage of the present crisis. A little after
this Mio Churchill referred to the British Empire
and said there was no survival for the British
Empire without victory. What is forgotten, one
has painfully to point out, is that the very
Empire to which its soldier-statesmen are sticking
on, may be a terrible handicap in the desperate
race for victory. Even if crippled India were to-
be put upon her legs today, she could not as by
a magic wand produce the material needed for a
victorious violent war. But if she was put upon
her legs and raised from the status of a depen-
dency to the status of an independent ally, all
Hitler’s excuse for wanton aggression would be
gone. What is more, British statesmen would be
only making good the democratic statements that
they have made ■— all during the past six months.
“Wc are fighting in defence o£ freedom/’ said
Lord Halifax. “We are fighting for peace; we are
meeting a challenge to our own security and that
of others; we are defending the rights of all
nations to live their own UvesS* (Italics mine)
Mr. Anthony Eden declared about the same
time that all war effort — be was talking of
the Dominions — “was based, as I believe, on a
positive faith, and that positive faith is Parlia-
mentary Government by a free community.”
( He forgot that “ war effort ” in India was
impossible, as there is no Parliamentary Govern-
ment and no free community.) “If we really
mean to build a clean, ordered, secure world
after this war,” said Sir Herbert Morrison, “ wc
must be ready for sacrifices as individuals, as
classes, as a nation.'^ And “all peoples have a
right to live in security and independence,”
declared Mr. Arthur Greenwood,
But the fight is for victory. And as Guy
Chapman, the compiler of that fine miscellany
of the last World War has said in Vain Glory:
“ The peculiarity of war lies in the fact that
whole communities are directed to a single objective —
victory^ and the reason they were induced to co-
operate, the clash of philosophies and creeds, is for-
gotten in the closer obsession of the desire to win.
It is not belief in the cause, but the strength of
the desire for victory which, as it waxes and wanes,
is the basis of what is called morale.”
Mr. Churchill’s words, Lord Gort’s words,
and now Mr. Amery’s statement repeating Lord
Zetland’s language, betray that “ obsession of
the desire to win”, and forgetfulness of the
very moral considerations that alone -can speed
Britain to victory. It is a sad reflection to
make, but none the less true.
Sevagram, 27-5-40 Da
148
HAEIJAN
1 June 1
-rjatijan
S940 1
NOT YET
(By M. K. Gandhi)
The reader will find in another column Dr.
Ram Manohar Lohia s plea for immediate civil
disobedience. I endorse his prescription for ensur-
ing world peace. For enforcing the acceptance
of his prescription he would have immediate
civil disobedience. Here I must join issue. If
Dr. Lohia subscribes to my conception of the
working of non-violence, he will at once admit
that the present is no atmosphere for influenc-
ing the Britisher in the right direction through
civil disobedience. Dr. Lohia agrees that the
British Government should not be embarrassed.
I fear that any step towards direct action is
bound to cause them embarrassment. If I start
now, the whole purpose of civil disobedience
will be defeated.
I would unhesitatingly declare civil disobe-
dience if the country was demonstrably non-
violent and disciplined. But unfortunately we
have many groups outside the Congress who
believe in neither non-violence nor civil dis-
obedience. In the Congress itself there are all
shades of opinion about the efficacy of non-
violence. Congressmen who believe in the appli-
cation of non-violence for the defence of India
can be counted on the finger-tips. Though we
have made great strides towards non-violence,
we have not arrived at a stage when we can
hope to be unconquerable. Any false step at
the present time may end in the loss of the
great moral prestige the Congress has gained. We
have sufficiently demonstrated that the Con-
gress has done with imperialism, and that it will
not be satisfied with anything less than the
unfettered right of self-determination.
If the British Government will not suo motu
declare India as a free country having the right
to determine her own status and constitution, I
am of opinion that we should wait till the heat
of the battle in the heart of the Allied coun-
tries subsides and the future is clearer than it
is. We do not seek our independence out of
Britain's ruin. That is not the way of non-
violence.
But we shall have many opportunities of
demonstrating our power if we really have it.
We can make it felt at the time of peace
which must come whichever party wins.
Have we got the power? Is India at ease
without having uptodate arms? Does not India
feel helpless without the ability to defend her-
self against aggression? Do even Congressmen
feel secure? Or do they not feel that for some
years to come at any rate India will have to
be helped by Britain or some other power? If
[ June 1, iS40
such is our unfortunate plight, how can we
hope to make an effective contribution towards
an honourable peace after the war or universal
disarmament ? We must first demonstrate the
efficacy of non-violence of the strong in our
own country before we can expect to influence
the tremendously armed powers of the West.
But many Congressmen are playing at non-
violence. They think in terms of civil disobe-
dience anyhow meaning the filling of jails. This
is a childish interpretation of the great force
that civil disobedience is. I must continue to
repeat, even though it may cause nausea, that
prison-going without the backing of honest con-
structive effort and goodwill in the heart for
the wrong-doer is violence and therefore forbidden
in satyagraha. Force generated by non-violence
is infinitely greater than the force of all the
arms invented by man’s ingenuity. Non-violence,
therefore, is the decisive factor in civil disobe-
dience. At this the most critical moment in
India's history, I will not play with the force
whose hidden possibilities I have been humbly
trying to explore now for nearly half a century.
Fortunately in the last resort I have myself to
fall back upon. I have been told that people
cannot be non-violent overnight. I have never
contended they can. But I have held that by
proper training they can be, if they have the
will. Active non-violence is necessary for those
who will offer civil disobedience, but the will
and proper training are enough for the people
to co-operate with those who arc chosen for
disobedience. The constructive work prescribed
by the Congress is the proper training. Given
the preparation, the Congress will make perhaps
the most effective contribution toward ending
the war in the right way. Disarmament of India
though compulsory in origin, if it is voluntarily
adopted by the nation as a virtue and if India
makes a declaration that she will not defend
herself with arms, can materially influence the
European situation. Those, therefore, who wish
to see India realise her destiny through non-
violence should devote every ounce of their
energy towards the fulfilment of the construc-
tive programme in right earnest without any
thought of civil disobedience.
Sevagram, 28-5-40
“Will Leave No Stone Unturned'’
Interviewed on Mr. Amcrys’ statement in the
House of Commons, Gandhiji said:
“While hourly butchery is going on in the
West and peaceful homes are being destroyed,
I have no heart to say anything publicly in
regard to Mr. Amery’s statement. Suffice it to
say that I will leave no stone unturned to
bring about a peaceful and honourable settle-
ment of the present deadlock.”
Mahatma Gandhi
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June 1 , 1940 ]
HASIJAN
149
BIDAS
C By M. K. Gandhi )
Five gentlemen from Hyderabad Deccan have
sent me an offer to which there is a long
preface containing all kinds of innuendoes against
me. I need not burden these columns with their
preface. If the adjectives used against me are
deserved, they will stand whether I advertise
them or not. If they are due to the ignorance
of the authors, as I know they are, it is well
for me not to notice them. Here is the offer :
“Will Gandhiji agree that the whole Samajist
movement which led to this and many other inci-
dents should be thoroughly investigated by a Com-
mission, whose head should be a Parsi or a Chris-
tian, with an equal number of Hindu and Muslim
members? We are even prepared if Gandhiji agrees
to arbitrate himself, as we are confident that the
evidence with us will prove the case. As a prelimi-
nary, congenial atmosphere to conduct such an enquiry
is all that is required. We, therefore, suggest
that Gandhiji will not hesitate to demand that all
•the cases pending in court in connection with the
Bidar conflagration should be withdrawn. We do
■not, of course, plead that cases of a serious nature,
as that of murder or cases having no connection
with the conflagration, should be included.
Gandhiji is also of opinion that compensation should
be given to those who have suffered. We fail to
understand the logic behind it# If communal incidents
are to be compensated, what would be the burden
on the Exchequer ? Would the riots not be employed
.as a weapon to bring financial failure upon the
•Government? Is it a remedy or an encouragement?
It is a novel demand indeed# We hope Gandhiji
will accept our offer."’
I have no difficulty about accepting the offer
unreservedly. If the writers succeed in persuad-
ing the Government of H. E. H. likewise to
.accept the offer, they will have established a
precedent which may well be followed in all
■such cases. Needless to say, if the court sug-
rgested by my correspondents comes into being,
the composition and terms of reference will
have to be by agreement.
I am asked- to demand the withdrawal of the
cases- instituted against persons suspected of
complicity. They were not instituted at my
instance, and I presume they will not be with-
drawn on my demand. But I should have no
'.hesitation in approving of all withdrawals if
the court of inquiry is appointed. I assure my
'friends that I am interested in elucidation of
truth, not in the punishment of the guilty.
But I am sorry I cannot forego the sugges-
tion for compensation. Compensation has been
asked because it is alleged that the authorities
failed to do their duty. The question of com-
pensation has naturally to be referred to the
proposed tribunal. My correspondents assure me
of the sincerity of their proposal. I do not
doubt it. I shall await the results of their efforts
to have the offer accepted by the State. I wish
them every success. Sevagram, 28-5-40
CURSE OF UNTOUGHABILITY
( By M. K, Gandhi )
Several correspondents protest against my
referring to the arguments advanced in favour
of partition. They say that Islam is not exclu-
sive, and that it teaches universal brotherhood
and toleration, I have never denied this claim.
It was because of my knowledge of Islam that
I felt grieved ever the arguments which go
to prove the contrary. Almost every Muslim
writing I take up nowadays contains disparage-
ment of Hindus and Hinduism. It cannot be
otherwise if the case for partition is to be
proved. But my correspondents are angry when
I point out the anomaly. They say I have
hastily come to the conclusion from isolated
writings of unimportant Muslims. Unfortunately,
the arguments referred to by me have proceed-
ed from important Muslims.
But where the writers score over me is in
regard to Hindu untouchability. They say in
effect : “ You should be ashamed of bringing
the charge of untouchability against the Muslim
League. First cast out the beam from the Hindu
eye before you attempt to deal with the mote
in the Muslim eye. Has not the Hindu main-
tained for a thousand years complete boycott of
Muslims? He will not drink or cat with him.
He will not intermarry. He will not even let
his house to him. Can you conceive a more
effective isolation of a whole community .than
the Hindu has carried out? Will it not be a
just nemesis if the Muslim now turns round
and pays you in your own coin?”
I have admitted as much. Whatever the
Muslims do by way of retaliation will be richly
deserved by Hindus. My question was and is,
should they do so ? Does it behove a great
political party to play upon religious prejudices ?
Whatever the Muslim League does or does
not do, it behoves thoughtful Hindus to take
note of the deserved taunt and purge Hinduism
of its exclusiveness. It will not be protected
by artificial barriers which have no sanction in
ancient Hinduism or reason. Well did Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad say the other day how sick
he was of hearing the cry at railway stations
of Hindu and Muslim tea or water. I know
this touch-me-not-ism is deep-rooted [in Hindu-
ism as it is practised today. But there is no
reason why it should be tolerated by Congress-
men. If they will* be correct in their behaviour,
they will pave the way for a radical trans-
formation of Hindu society. The message of anti-
untouchability does not end in merely touching
the so-called untouchables. It has a much
deeper meaning.
Sevagram, 28-5-40
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HARIJAN
[ June 1, 1940'
DEENABANDHU MEMORIAL
Innumerable people all over the ■world, who
have been plunged into sorrow by the recent
death of Charles Frere Andrews, must have been
feeling, in their grief, that it behoves his friends
to carry on the work of service and reconcilia-
tion in which he laboured so greatly. We would
not willingly let die the memory of his life; we
seek a way to perpetuate, in permanent and
visible form, the spirit of that life, Andrews’
permanent Indian home, the place with which
for over a quarter of a century he affectionately
identified himself, was Santiniketan in the
Birbhum district of Bengal. This Ashram was origi-
nally founded by the late Maharshi Debendra-
nath Tagore and supported by the ancestral
funds. Under the leadership of his son, the Poet
Rabindranath Tagore, the educational institutions
at Santiniketan, with the centre of rural recon-
struction close by at Sriniketan, have far out-
grown the first conception, and become a world-
frmous centre of international culture. To the
welfare of these institutions, with their vision of
universal brotherhood and their service of inter-
national understanding and peace, Andrews, the
Poet’s closest friend, gave his whole-hearted devo-
tion. No private resources could be adequate
for the support of such a centre of study and
research, and many of the financial and other
contributions which have been made to it from
East and West alike have been owed to Andrews’
perseverance, hard work, and faith in its future.
No more fitting place can be conceived for a
memorial to him, nor one which he himself
would have loved better, as we who came into
the closest contact with him know.
It is true that no memorial in stone and
mortar can fully perpetuate Andrews’ memory.
That can best be done by promoting true and
lasting peace between India and Great Britain
as independent nations and, through their joint
efforts, universal peace. But this work of recon-
ciliation must find concrete form in some centre
from which his influence can radiate. There
could be no better memorial to him than that
the place where he found his spiritual home
and greatest human inspiration, should be so
endowed as to enable it to fulfil his high hopes
for it unhampered by the constant financial
anxiety with which it is now burdened. In his
name and that of the Poet whose vision he so
entirely shared, we appeal for this endowment
to be generously given.
There or two projected developments of the
work of Santiniketan and Sriniketan which
Charles Andrews himself . specially longed to see.
The generous response of the public to our
appeal for a memorial fund will enable them
both to be carried out in addition to ensuring
the permanence of the present established work.
They are as follows:
Andrews was most appropriately called ‘Deena-
bandhu’, the friend of the poor, and the poor
of the Birbhum district knew his friendship. The
rural centre at Sriniketan- has a good doctor and
dispensary but no hospital or operating theatre.
We propose to build a small but properly
equipped hospital to serve the villages round us,
and to dig each year ‘Deenabandhu wells’ in
the neediest areas. The Birbhum district is not
served by the large rivers of Bengal, and lack
of adequate water supply is the main cause of
its grinding poverty.
It was true insight which caused an Indian
friend to interpret the initials C. F. A. as
meaning ‘ Christ's Faithful Apostle”. Christ was
the centre of his life. Devotion to Him was his
outstanding characteristic and the source of his
inspiration and strength. During the last months
at Santiniketan he often expressed the hope
that in this place, where the civilisations of the
world can share with each other the bases of
their strength, there might be established a Hall
of Christian culture which could do for India’s
thought through contact with the Western world
what the ‘ Cheena-Bhawan ’ is expected to do
for our relationship with China. The central
purpose of the Hall would be the study of the
teaching and character of Christ and its appli-
cation to the solution of international problems.
It would seek to attract scholars and students,
especially of the East, to the task of interpret-
ing in their own modes of -thought the spirit
and mind of Christ. We envisage a modest
building, suJEciently endowed to enable us to
offer such scholars and students a home at a
minimum cost, with simple living accommoda-
tion, meeting hall, and the library whose nucleus-
Charles Andrews had already begun to assemble.
He himself made Santiniketan his headquarters'
during a life of practical Christian service which
reached out from here to the ends of the earth.
We hope that such a Hall would enable others
consecrated to the same kind of service tO'
enjoy the same kind of home.
The full carrying out of this programme will
require a fund of at least Rs. 500,000 (£40,000).
We ask Andrews’ friends and admirers all over
the world to give liberal support to a scheme
which will make possible, in his name, the
preservation and enrichment of this work nearest
to his own heart.
Santiniketan and Sriniketan are in the charge
of Dr. Rabindranath Tagore, Founder-President,
Sir Nilratan Sarkar, Shri Hirendranath Datta,
Shri L. K. Elmhirst, Dr. D. M. Bose, Treasurer,
and Shri Rathindranath Tagore, General Secretary,
as trustees. The trust deed is registered. Its
corpus today is valued at Rs, 1,700,000. Its.
annual expenditure is about Rs. 330,000.
Abul Kalam Azad
S. K. Datta
M. K. Gandhi
M. M. Malaviya
Sarojini Naidu
Jawaharlal Nehru
V. S. Srinivasa Sastri
Foss Westcott (Bishop)
HASIJAN
151
June i, 1940 ]
IMMEDIATE SATYAG-RAHA ”
( By Ram Manohar Lohia )
The turn of events in Europe has made it
dear that the Allies ate not as strong as was
earlier imagined, and that Germany is not as
weak as was made out at the beginning of the
war. Germany and the Allies appear to be
evenly matched, with the advantage for the
present very much to Germany, The war, there-
fore, cannot end soon, unless there is surprise
.defeat and destruction of one or the other or
unless a vital change of policies and aims is
effected.
The longer this war continues the greater is
the possibility of its extension over other coun-
tries of Europe and the rest of the world.
The continuing and extension of the war can
have only one consequence, destruction. This
will involve not only deaths and epidemics
and laying waste of cities and villages and
objects of material comfort, but also the ruining
of superior emotions of man. There will be
increasing hunger for cruelty in all lands.
The end of the war will probably see no
better results than those in its duration. The
victory of Germany will produce Nazi domina-
tion over the larger part of Europe, for the
Hitler principle of national security is only a
respectable term for conquest and imperialist
rule. But the victory of Germany’s enemies, as
things stand today, is also not likely to lead to
any better world. Germany’s enemies are them-
selves imperialists and, as the war drags on,
their commitments with other Powers will
•almost surely be of an imperialist character.
With the one aim of securing victory, an aim
already officially accepted by their spokesmen,
Britain and France may have to buy the friend-
ship, at least the neutrality, of Japan or Italy
or any other similar Power. Such a purchase
can be made only at the expense of the free-
dom of peoples in China or in Africa and else-
where.
It is undoubtedly true that, if the war con-
tinues long, there will be enormous destruction
and nobody can say what the outcome may be.
The fighting Powers, in their victory as much
as in their defeat, may become too weak to
enforce their treaties and contracts.
Against this background of a continuing and
extending war, the Indian people has to decide
its course of action. This action should be
such as to secure the freedom of the country
in the midst of a free and peaceful world
where the enemies of freedom cannot prosper.
The duration of the war and its destruction
and cruelty should, so far as it lies wtihin the
power of the Indian people, be lessened.
The cry to arm the nation in co-operation
with the British Government shows unawareness
both of the international background and of the
aim of the Indian people. Indo-British co-opera-
tion towards arming India during the present
war will, firstly, defer the day of freedom and,
secondly, force the Indian people to take increas-
ing part in destruction. As far as real national
defence is concerned, the fate of people in
Poland, Holland, Belgium and even France is
there with their many decades of army tradi-
tion and training and long years of military
mechanisation. If India is to militarise herself
for national defence, let this be clear that two
decades at least of industrial and army pre-
parations would be necessary, and any amount of
arming during this war will leave us helpless,
either voluntarily or therwise, in the hands of
a bigger Power.
We have to think of some other way con-
sistent with our aim and the international back-
ground.
Those world forces which are anxious to re-
move aggression and conquest and foreign rule
must without delay collect on a platform which
will give them strength and deprive their
enemies of confidence. Such a platform can
be short and simple.
(1) All peoples will be free. The peoples
newly freed will determine their constitution
through a Constituent Assembly elected on the
basis of adult franchise.
(2) All races are equal, and there will be no
race privileges in any part of the world. There
will be no political bar to any man settling
wherever he likes.
(3) Credits and investments of the nationals
and the government of one country in another
will be scrapped or submitted for review to
international tribunals. Such credits and invest-
ments will then be owned not by individuals
but by the nation.
When these three principles will have been
accepted by the peoples of the world a fourth
will also come into operation.
(4) There will be total disarmament.
If the world that is not Hitler’s were really
anxious to establish peace and freedom in the
world, it would straightaway accept the first
three principles of this platform and put them
into immediate operation in the territories under
its control. This would generate forces of incal-
culable strength and an atmosphere of gripping
goodwill. The world that is Hitler’s will either
quail or bow. Even if that does not happen
and the war continues, it will be short and
decisive.
The Allies arc showing no inclination to accept
this platform of ideals, and the progress of war
in Europe is accompanied by incredible destruc-
tion and terror and feat of more. The battles
in Holland, Belgium and France, destructive of
human culture as they are, appear to be only
the ‘beginnings. The worst may yet come.
In waiting for the British Government to take
the initiative or in allowing for a further long
period of preparations, the Indian National
Congress will be indirect party to the prolonga-
tion of the war and its consequent miseries
and dangers to the Indian people and the
152
HARIJAN
[ Juke 1, 1940
world- The freedom of India may not wait, not
only in her own interest but in that of world
peace, Satyagraha must now be declared.
it and by their solid work impress the people-
with their sincerity,
Sevagram, 27-5-40 M. ]K„ G.
If the Congress gives v/ithout delay the call
of satyagraha to the Indian people for the two
principles of the Constituent Assembly and of
cancellation or impartial review of British credits
and investments, it will do its duty by the
Indian people and might generate just those
world forces which will bring the war to a
speedy end and assure reconstruction of the
world on the basis of freedom and peace.
Satj^agraba here and now is not an attempc to
esploic Britain’s recent defeats. On the contrary
these defeats have heightened India’s responsi-
bility towards herself and also towards the
Britain which is anxious to defeat all that
Hitler stands for; and satyagraha will only be
the expression of this heightened responsibility.
Nevertheless, a period of two weeks or a
month — as a further delay would not be in
keeping with the rapid pace of change in the
world — may be given to Britain to make up her
mind about the platform of ideals which alone
can defeat Hitler. Incidentally, the Congress
will thus invite the United States. Russia and
even Germany to revise their policies and aims.
If Britain and others should still misunderstand
the satyagraha of the Congress as an effort to
make use of an adversary’s difficulty, history
will, judge between them.
Notes
Kerala Congress
Mian Iftikharuddin after his visit to Kerala
reported to me that the differences between rival
groups that were hampering real progress in
Kerala had been settled. I was happy to have
the report. But letters since received from
Kerala go to show that the settlement was
superficial I have before me a long resolution
passed by the Kerala Provincial Congress Com-
mittee which condemns almost all my acts and
writings, ridicules the constructive programme,
and yet to fulfil the letter of the Congress law
half-heartedly endorses the Congress resolution. I
suggest to the Kerala Congressmen who are res-
ponsible for the resolution that this is neither good
soldiership nor sportsmanship. The letter killeth,
the spirit giveth life. Congressmen should under-
stand the spirit of the resolution and carry it
out. They will put life into me and themselves.
If they cannot, it will be brave and honourable
to resist in a dignified manner the present
leadership and programme. The resolution be-
fore me merely confounds the people to whom
it is addressed. I hope that the leaders of the
majority group in Kerala will realise their
mistake and retrace their steps. But whether
they do so or not, the minority who have
faith in the programme should quietly pursue
The BeiniefkeEiit Eee
The following is taken from A. W. McCanns
The Scmice of Eating :
“ The Van Rensslaer apple orchard in Medina
County, Ohio, produced on the average 500 bushels
of apples annually until its owner trimmed and sprayed
his trees and began to keep bees, whereupon the
production of the same orchard, with not a single
new tree, leaped from 500 bushels to 16,000 bushels-
in a single season.
The Repp farm in Gloucester County, New Jersey...
is now producing 1,20,000 bushels of apples. Repp'
himself declares that so indispensable are bees to
the growing of fruit in this country that fruit
growers can afford to pay local bee men at the rate
of 5 dollars a colony merely to have the bees in
the orchards during the time the trees are in bloom,,
letting the owners of the bees take them away again
at once
Dr. Philips of the Bureau of Entomology,
Washington, declares that fruit orchards cannot be
planted properly on an extensive scale without main-
taining in connection with them numerous colonies
of honey bees and that. ..bee-keeping adds indirectly
more to the resources of the country, by flower
pollination than by the scale of honey and wax.
The orange growers of Florida now know what
the bee means to their crops. Sweet cherry orchards
have jumped from a production of 13 tons to 39-
tons merely through the introduction of a few
colonies of bees to the acre. Even the tomato is
pollinated by the bee.
In Massachusetts alone there are now over
2,000 colonies of bees pollinating cucumbers, squashes
melons and pumpkins. The grape, strawberry, black-
berry, raspberry, cranberry, blueberry, gooseberry,
currant plum and pear need the bee.
In New Zealand red clover could not be culti-
vated until honey bees were imported from
England.
Greater demand for honey as a sugar food means
more bees. More bees mean more food of every
kind.”
Love of honey is, therefore, one of the most
productive of the forces now engaged in the
growing and harvesting of crops; in the recons-
truction of the world itself.
V. G.
D._
CONTENTS Page
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi
145
Three Witnesses
Pyarelal
146
Occasional Notes
M. D.
147
Not Yet
M. K. Gandhi
148
Bidar
M. K. Gandhi
149
Curse of Untouchability
M. K. Gandhi
149
Deenabandhu Memorial ...
M. K. Gandhi
& Others
150
“Immediate Satyagraha” ...
R. M. Lohia
151
Notes :
“Will Leave No
Stone Unturned’’ ...
M. K. G.
148
Kerala Congress
M. K. G.
152
The Beneficent Bee
V. G. D.
152
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona*^.-
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VoL. vnr, No. 17 3 POONA — SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
Notes
Peace in Siroh!
Some time ago I had regretfully to comment
on happenings in Sirohi. I am therefore happy
to be able to note that there is now peace
between the State and the people. The credit may
be equally divided between the State and the
satyagrahis. The satyagrahis were ably led by
Achaiya Gokulbhai who is a firm believer in
the principles of satyagraha. Let me hope that
the relations between the two will daily become
more and more cordial, and that there never
will be any cause for quarrel between the State
and the people.
Untouchability
Shri T. S. ^ Jadhav, President District Local
Board, Sholapur, writes:
“ I have been incessantly making effort to give
facilities to the Harijans especially with regard to
their immediate needs in respect of water supply,
educaticn, etc The Congress Board has opened a
good number of wells to the Harijans, and has also
arranged to put up notices to that effect at these
wells. But it is a matter of regret that the Harijans
are not inclined to take advantage of this facility
for fear of being put to trouble by the ‘ touchables*.
During my tours in the district, I have been request-
ing the latter to allow Harijans the exercise of this
legitimate right without any ill effects and exhorting
the Harijans to have sufficient courage to establish their
fundamental right of drinking water from any public
well. This I have been doing through public meetings,
articles and private discussions. As a pratical instance,
I go myself to a public well in a village after a
public meeting with some Harijans, * touchable *
Congress workers, and a few other prominent villagers,
and all of us drink water from the well after it has
been drawn by a Plarijan. But it is found tl it
the ‘ touchables * who take part in this function are
often boycotted and the Harijans visited with
various kinds of troubles by the * touchables’ who
do not participate in the function. No doubt the
nature of this boycott and that of the infliction of
troubles is becoming milder and milder day by day ;
but in whatever form it may be, it is there and
serves as a hindrance in the way of removal of
untouchability. Can you suggest anything more?”
This certainly is good work. Removal of un-
touchability is a question of double education,
that of * touchables ’ as well as ‘ untouchables’.
‘Touchables’ have to be taught patiently by
precept and example that untouchability is a sin
against God and humanity, and the 'untouchabies‘
that they should cease to fear the ‘ touchables ’
and shed untouchability among themselves. I
know that that is very easily said. But I have
found nothing else. Living in the midst of both,
I know how hard the work is among both. If
Hinduism is to live, the work has to be done,
however difficult and even homeless it may
appear to be.
Handmade Paper
Shri Jadhav further writes:
“ Secondly, I have been using handmade paper for
the use of the District Local Board office since Ihe
advent of the Congress Party in the Board. Use
of mill paper or foreign paper is discon-
tinued, and as far as my information jgoes, ours is
the only Board in Maharashtra which iias been using
handmade paper for its office use to the complete
exclusion of other paper. I had sent a circular
letter to the Presidents of the other Boards in
Maharashtra, requesting them to follow this practice
of our Board, and I am glad a few cf them nave
agreed to do so. But I think it will be better
if you yourself request the Presidents of the Con-
gress Boards in India to use handmade paper for
their office purposes. This can well be done through
the columns of Harijan^ and I am sure it will go
a long way in bringing into reality your dream of
revival of village industries as far as writing paper
is concerned.”
I gladly support this plea. Indeed I have often
enough said the same thing in these columns.
Shri Jadhav’s example should be copied by all
Local Boards not merely in the matter of hand-
made paper but all village products. With a
little care, the Boards should be able to manage
these things within their budget. I should also
suggest that the Boards have these things manu-
factured in the villages under their jurisdiction
as far as possible. The purpose of the village
movement will be defeated, if this central fact
is not borne in mind. Decentralisation is the
beauty of the movement as also the key to
its success.
Red Cross Fund
’ The same letter mentions the following:
“Then, with respect to the Red Cross Fund.
Efforts are afoot in this district to collect money for
this fund on a very large scale by means of sale of
lottery' tickets. These tickets are sold to the villagers
against their wishes and in spite of their inability
to do so. This is being done through undue inflaence
yrithout leaving any proof of the same behind. At
154
HAEIJAN [ June 8, 1940
some places the Patil Kulkarnis do not accept land
revenue if the agriculturist does not buy these tickets.
I have received a number of complaints in writing
to this effect during my recent tour in the district.
I am communicating these complaints to the proper
Government authorities.*’
This subject too I have already dealt with. I
have explained that in such matters there should
be no compulsion. Overzealous ofl&cials may
resort to unfair means bordering on compulsion.
There is no statutory obligation to subscribe to
such funds. Those who do not wish to, will
certainly not subscribe. These irregular collec-
tions are often vexing and should be stopped
by the authorities wherever discovered.
Comilla Municipality and Harijans
Shri Thakkar Bapa sends the following inter-
esting account of what the Comilla Municipality
has done and propose doing for Harijans;
“ 1. 15 days’ leave with full pay in a year, and
maternity leave to female sweepers.
2. A free primary school in their quarters.
3. Corrugated-iron roof huts for (a) Naga sweepers
at a cost of Rs. 1,500, and (b) for other sweepers
at a cost of Rs. 3,000. Some Nagas in East Bengal
and Surma valley have taken to scavenging work.
4. The sweepers have been relieved almost wholly
from their indebtedness, which totalled about 3,000
and on which they were paying an interest of three
.annas per rupee per month or 225 per cent !
The Commissioners intend to adopt the following
further measures for them;
1. To start a Co-operative Stores, proposal for
which has been sent to the Registrar of Co-operative
Societies for registration.
1. Sweepers have to be weaned from their drink-
ing habit, which it is known is a difficult task.
3. The insanitary drain behind the sweepers’
quarters requires to be made into a pucca drain.
4. Providing kitchens for sweepers’ quarters, as at
present they have to cook and sleep in the same room.”
This reminds one of what the Ahmedabad
Municipality has done in the matter. The latter
is possibly more thorough. But that does not
in any way detract from the merit of what
the Comilla Municipality has done. It deserves
warm congratulations. Let us hope that the
prospective reforms too will be carried out in
good time.
Sevagram, 4-6-40 M. K. G.
Handmade Paper
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OCCASIOi^AL NOTES
All for Principle
In one of his plays, Man of Destiny, Bernard
Shaw has characterised the English as a ‘race
apart’. There is nothing so good or so bad, he
remarks, that you won’t find an Englishman do-
ing it. He does what pleases him and grabs
what he covets, but he does all this on ‘principle’.
He is never at a loss for an effective moral
attitude. “He fights you on patriotic principles,
he robs you on business principles, he enslaves
you on imperial principles, he bullies you on
manly principles, and cuts off his King’s head on
republican principles. His watch-dog is always
Duty, and he never forgets that the nation which
lets its duty get on the opposite side to its
interest is lost.”
One was strongly reminded of these remarks
of Shaw on a perusal of the proceedings of the
recent India debate in the Parliament, the full
text of which has since appeared in the press.
It was contended in the course of that debate
by one honourable member after another from
the floor of the House that India could not be
allowed to exercise her fright of unfettered self-
determination as that would “ put upon us the
charge that we have been traitors to our
responsibility for the protection of the mino-
rities in India who rely upon us. ” How could
Britain, it was sanctimoniously argued, abandon
her obligations, as trustee of the welfare of the
Indian people which were “embedded in the very
texture and tapestry of history”? There was,
of course, the reference to the Princes, like the
inevitable King Charles’ head, and to “the stake
we have in the country” and “which is the
outcome of historical forces”.
Bug-bear of the States
“ How can you ignore Indian States, ” exclaim-
ed Sir Stanley Reed, " which comprise one-third
of India and one-quarter the population ?” Sir
Stanley Reed, as a veteran journalist with a long
career in India, surely, must know that out of
562 States that constitute Princely India only
about thirty have any treaty relations with the
Paramount Power, that even these treaty States
are bound to the Paramount Power in “subordi-
nate co-operation ” either by express provisions
in the treaties themselves or have been reduced
to that status as a result of half a century of un-
broken political practice. As vassals of the Crown
they are not free agents; they cannot treat with
anybody except at the sufferance of the Crown,
and are bound loyally to carry out the policies
of the Paramount Power. It is therefore a travesty
of the reality to speak of Princely India as
“ comprising one-third of India and one-quarter
the population ”, or to trot out treaty obligation
towards the Princes as a reason for refusing
India her right of self-determination.
Concern for the Under-dog
A true measure of the genuineness of these
contentions would, perhaps, be provided by com-
paring the present attitude of the British Parlia-
JUKE 8, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
155
ment with the way in which it dealt with the
problem of the ‘‘ under dog ” on an occasion
when necessity pointed the other way.
The South African constitution of 1909 was
framed in South Africa by the South African
National Convention, A thorny question at issue
was that of the native franchise. The Convention
decided that in South Africa only persons of
European descent could sit as members in
either House of Parliament.
This meant that the natives, who constituted
the majority of the population, would be excluded
from sitting in the South African Parliament.
As Lord Crewe, the Colonial Secretary, himself
admitted in Parliament, there were among the
natives men who were of high standing, of
high character and of high ability.” They regarded
the exclusion as a slight, and they “ pressed with
deep feeling and much eloquence their case
before the British Government at Westminster,”
But the British Government felt powerless to
interfere with the decision of the South African
National Convention. Explained Lord Crewe, the
Colonial Secretary, from his place in the House
of Lords on July 27th, 1909;
“The fact which has decided us in not attempt-
ing to press this matter against the wishes of the
South African delegates has been that this is
undoubtedly one of those matters which represent a
delicately balanced compromise between themselves.
As a Government, we cannot take — and personally
I am not prepared to take — the responsibility for
the possible wrecking of this Union measure altogether
or provision of this kind. I am assured that such
would be the result of any attempt to insert such
a provision in the Bill. The cause of those who
desire this change to be made has been pressed with
deep feeling and much eloquence by some of the
natives themselves, and by those who specially repre-
sent their cause. But I do feel that, if this change is
to be made, it must be made in South Africa by
South Africans themselves, and that, it is not possi-
ble for us, whatever we may consider to be the
special merits of the case, to attempt to force it up-
on the great representative body which with absolute
unanimity demands that it should not appear.”
So the South African Convention had its way
and the draft of the South African constitution
of 1909 which, as a Constituent Assembly, it had
drafted was, as has already been pointed out,
endorsed by the British Parliament without the
change even of a misplaced comma.
Other Times Other Manners
“However far,” it was further contended in
the debate, “ we may go in giving responsibi-
lities to a body in India for the framing of
their constitution, Parliament cannot entirely
devolve its responsibilities, it cannot slough off
its share in the work, because it will have to
implement by an Act whatever recommendations
may be agreed upon,*’ This doctrine of inalien-
able constitutional responsibility of the Parliament,
one may point out, with due deference to the
honourable member who advanced it, is histori-
cally an untruth; in practice it was always put
aside whenever a settlement was genuinely desired
by Britain, as in the case of Ireland and the
Dominions. The fact that it is now being dangled
before us only shows that the sanction on which
Britain relies is her might rather than the logic
or historical validity of her contention.
To take up a few concrete instances; in the
case of Canada the Parliament did nothing more
than embody in a legislative form, in 1867, the
seventytwo Quebec Resolutions of 1864 which
represented the ultimate agreement between the
Canadians themselves in regard to their own
constitution. The Commonwealth of Australia
Bill, again, as Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, the Colo-
nial Secretary, admitted in his speech on the
introduction of the Constitution Bill in the House
of Commons on the 14th May 1900, was pre-
pared without any reference to the British
Parliament or the British people. The Imperial
Parliament only registered the decree of the
Australian people.
“ As a matter of fact, ” stated Mr. Bonar Law
on 27th November, 1922, in his speech in the Com-
mons defending the drafting of the Constitution
Bill by the people of Ireland, “ the constitutions of
Canada, Australia and South Africa were all drafted
in those Dominions. ** Sir John Simon in his speech
on the same day on the same Bill was even more
emphatic. “ The principle, ” he observed, “ that
Constitutions in our Empire have usually been found
to have a permanent basis in the cases where they
have been arrived at and settled on the soil affected
by them, is by no means limited to the different
Federal Unions under the British Crown. I believe
it would be true to say that Constitutions which
promote prosperity and loyalty, and which have been
found to be lasting Constitutions for subordinate
.States in our Empire, have almost without exception
either actually or virtually been framed by those
who were to live under them themselves. ”
“ Special Obligations ”
The example of Ireland is still more striking^
During the Debate on the Statute of Westmin-
ster, it was held by a section of the Tories,
headed by Mr. Churchill, that there was a
special obligation”, viz. in regard to the Irish
Treaty of 1921 which did not find its reserva-
tion within the corners of the Statute as propos-
ed. “ I am advised on high technical authority,”
observed the honourable member for Eping that
“this Bill confers upon the Irish Free State
full legal power to abolish the Irish Treaty at
any time when the Irish Legislature may think
fit.” He therefore suggested that an amendment
should be incorporated into the Statute to pre-
vent that. But on receiving a note from Mr.
Cosgrave to the effect that ” any attempt to
erect a statute of the British Parliament into a
safeguard of the Treaty would have quite the
opposite effect here and would rather tend to
give rise in the minds of our people to a doubt
as to the sanctity of this instrument. ” Col.
Grettan s amendment was dropped by 360 votes
to 50 despite the support of Mr. Churchill and
Lord H. Cecil, and the ” special obligations of
the British Parliament ” were left to take care
of themselves.
Sevagram, 2-6-40 Pyarelal
156
HARUAN
1 Juie 8
1940
HINDU-MUSLIM
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Thus writes a Khan Bahadur from Delhi :
“This is a letter for the Question Box in Harijan.
In your article in Harijan of April 6, you observe
as follows:
‘ I should be failing in my duty if I did not
warn the Mussalmans against the untruth that is being
propagated amongst them. This warning is a duty
because I have faithfully served them in their hour
of need and because Hindu-Muslim unity has been
and is my life’s mission.’
I will request you to consider the Hindu-Muslim
problem fromi our point of view. The stumbling
block to any negotiations for a settlement of the
communal question has been the refusal of the
Congress to recognise the All India Muslim League
as the authoritative and sole representative body of
the Indian Mussalmans. The Congress claims that it
speaks for whole India and that it has on its rolls a
considerable number of Mussalmans. The very fact
that the Congress has made several attempts to
come to terms with Mr. Jinnah shows that it
is not fully confident of its representative character,
as far as the Mussalmans are concerned. But do
you not honestly feel that the Congress Mussalmans
are the real stumbling block in the way of Hindu-
Muslim unity, and that it is for their sake that
the Congress is not making a serious effort to
solve the problem ? Believe me, they are a lazy lot
who are enjoying their present position because they
are in the Congress.
You know what the Muslim masses did to ■ your
President in Calcutta where for years he had been
leading Id prayer. You also know that they have
no courage to address a Muslim meeting to convert
the Mussalmans to their point of view. You blame
the British for creating Princes, Moderates and
Khan Bahadurs like me. You blame the British
for trying to create another Ulster in India.
Has not the Congress created equivalent Mode-
rates and Khan Bahadurs in Azads, Asaf Alis
^nd Kidwais. Is not the action of the Congress
tantamount to creation of a Muslim Ulster?
, You _ may cite the case of Mr.* Asaf Ali succeeding
in the municipal elections of Delhi. I may inform
you that but for a division in the Provincial League
and bad handling of the situation Mr. Asaf Ali
would have never won the election. I may inform
you that even as it is, when Delhi Congress wanted
to contest the municipal elections as a party, Mr.
Asaf Ali, who is now a member of the Congress
Working Committee, had declined to take a Congress
ticket. Therefore,. Mr. Asaf Ali's election was not a
test case; and if you pardon my saying so, even
now let Mr. Asaf Ali re-seek election on a Congress
ticket, and I am confident that any League candi-
[ June 8, 1940
date would defeat him. You will thus realise that
your being baffled by the Lahore resolution of the
League is not justified when Mussalmans have ceased
to t"ust in your life’s mission regarding Hindu-
Muslim unity. On the other hand they are convin-
ced that the sole aim of the Congress, for the last
ten years at least, has been to divide and rule the
Mussalmans. I will beg of you to reconsider your
attitude towards the League. Please don’t trust the
Congressite Mussalmans, for they are not only the
‘ Mir Jafars ° amongst us, but the enemies of Hindu-
Muslim accord and India’s freedom.”
Just now I am inundated with letters of
protest from Muslim friends. Most writers do
not argue. They give themselves satisfaction by
abusing. Pyarelal, who opens and deals with
the daily post, gives me only those letters
which he thinks I should see. Of these I take
notice of those £ think I must. In some cases
I answer them privately. Therefore corres-
pondents who never receive acknowledgment
either through Harijan or the post should
know the reason.
There are some Muslim letters of sympathy
too. One of them says that in his house he has
to listen to wildest criticism of me. No adjec-
tive is too bad to use. Much criticism he knows
to be false. What is he to do, he asks. Is he
to leave the house, or is he to engage in
endless disputation and convert his house into
a bear garden? I have advised my correspon-
dent neither to leave the house nor to engage
in a discussion. If he can, he may put in a
mild word when he knows that a manifest
falsehood is being uttered and believed.
The correspondence in my possession and the
Urdu press cuttings and even some English cut-
tings from journals owned by Muslims go to show
that I am believed to be the arch enemy of
Islam and Indian Muslims. If I was at one time
acclaimed as their greatest friend and suffered
the praise, I must suffer too to be described
as an enemy. Truth is known only to God. I
am confident that in nothing that I am doing,
saying or thinking I am their enemy. They are
blood brothers and will remain so, though they
may disown me ever so much.
Now for the Khan Bahadur’s letter.
I have never understood the reason behind
the demand for the recognition by the Congress
of the All India Muslim League as the sole and
authoritative Muslim body. W^hy should such an
admission be demanded or expected ? How is it
compatible with a genuine desire for a settlement?
The Congress attempts to represent all. But
it has never demanded recognition as such from
anybody. The all India status has to be deserved.
But whether it be deserved or not, admis-
sion thereof is a superfluity. The Congress has
never claimed that it represents the whole of
Indian Muslims. It has not claimed to represent
any single community wholly. But it does rlaim
to represent every single national interest irres-
pectiy? of class, caste, colour or creed. Even
June 8, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
157
"that claim need not be admitted by those who
deal with it. It should be sufficient consolation
to each party that it is considered by the other
important enough to seek friendship with.
The Congress has always frankly admitted that
it has not on its register as many Muslims as
it would like. But it has been proud to have
had the support of many eminent Muslims.
Hakim Saheb Ajmal Khan was the tallest among
them. Qaid-e-Azam himself was a great Con-
gressman. It was only after non-cooperation
that he, like many other Congressmen belonging
to several communities, left it. Their defection
was purely political. They disliked direct action.
It is wrong to swear at the nationalist
Muslims simply because they are attached to
the Congress. If they become members of the
League, they will become worthy Muslims ! ! !
My correspondent simply does not know how
much Congress Muslims are trying to bring about
unity. When unity is re-established, as it must
be, I have no doubt that nationalist Muslims will
get their due both from Hindus and Muslims.
It is torture of truth to suggest that they are
-so many Mir Jafars. They ate betraying neither
Islam nor India. They are as true Muslims accor-
ding to their lights as members of the League
■claim to be. It is equal torture of truth to
suggest that the Congress is following the British
method of divide and rule. The Congress is a
political party with one single aim. It would be
a bad day for India if the Congress could be
proved to have mean motives. Is it mean to woo
Muslim opinion by the fairest means imaginable?
•Rightly or wrongly the Congress does not believe
in watertight compartments on a communal basis.
If religion is allowed to be as it is, a personal
• concern and a matter between God and man,
there are many dominating common factors bet-
ween the two which will compel common life
.and common action. Religions are not for separat-
ing men from one another, they are meant to
bind them. It is a misfortune that today they
•are so distorted that they have become a potent
•cause of strife and mutual slaughter.
It will perhaps now be clear why I can have
no concern with Asaf Ali Saheb’s case. I would
grant that he would be beaten in a contest
between him and a Leaguer. Let it be further
granted that such will be the case in the
majority of such contests. It will in no way
weaken my position. It will prove the superior
organising ability of the League and its popula-
rity among the Muslims. I have not doubted
■either. My case is incredibly simple. I must
not be called upon to make any admissions about
the status of the League before thinking of
unity through the League. I must not be disloyal
to the Muslim nationalists however insignificant
they may be considered to be. I ask the Khan
Bahadur, the writer of the letter under discussion,
to exert his influence to bring the two com-
munities together.
Sevagram, 4-6-40
PANIC
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Nowadays one reads about panic in the Press
and hears more than one reads. One friend
writes, “ You sitting in lonely Sevagram can have
no notion of the talks and whispers going on
in the busy cities. Panic has seized them.”
Panic is the most demoralising state anyone
can be in. There never is any cause for panic.
One must keep heart whatever happens. War
is an unmitigated evil. But it certainly docs one
good thing, it drives away fear and brings
bravery to the surface. Several million lives
must have been already lost between the Allies
and the Germans. They have been wasting
blood like water. Old men, women both old
and young, and children in Britain and France
are living in the midst of imminent death. But
there is no panic there. If they were seized by
panic, it would be an enemy more dreadful than
German bullets, bombs and poison gas. Let us
learn from these suffering nations of the West
and banish panic from our midst. And in India
there is no cause whatsoever for panic. Britain
will die hard and heroically even if she has to.
We may hear of reverses, but we will not
hear of demoralisation. Whatever happens will
happen in an orderly manner.
Therefore I would say to those who lend a
listening ear to me : “Go on with your work or
business in the usual way. Do not withdraw
your deposits or make haste to turn your paper
into cash. If you are cautious, you will run no
new risks. Your metal buried underground or
in your treasure chests need not be considered
safer than in banks or in paper if anarchy over-
takes us. There is risk just now in everything.
It is best to be as you are in such a condition.
Your steadiness, if it is multiplied, will steady
the market. It will be the best preventive
against anarchy. There is undoubtedly fear of
goondaism in such times. You must be prepared
to cope with it yourself. Goondas flourish only
in the midst of timid people. They will have
no quarter from people who can defend them-
selves violently or non-violently. Non-violent
defence presupposes recklessness about one’s life
and property. If it is persisted in, it will in
the end be a sure cure for goondaism. §ut non-
violence cannot be learnt in a day. It requites
practice. You can commence to learn it from
now. You must be ready to lose your life or pro-
perty or both. But that is implied in the art of
non-violence. If you do not know how to defend
yourself either way, the Government will not be
able to save you in spite of its best effort. No
Government, however powerful it may be, can
without the active co-operation of the people.
If even God only helps those who will help
themselves, how much more true it must be of
perishable Governments! Do not lose nerve and
think that tomorrow there will be no Govern-
ment and it will be all anarchy. You can be
the Government now, and you ^rtainly will be
158
HAElJAN
I June 8, 1940
in the contingency you contemplate or you
v/ill perish.”
Sevagram, 4-6-40
‘‘ SANDHYA MEDITATIONS
Deenabandhu Andrews lived such a full life
that two of his books were still in the press
when he died. The book under review was
published a few days after his death, and the
other one which is with an English publisher
is not yet out. Sa7idhya Meditations has value
^i^ot only as a little spiritual legacy left for his
Christian and non-Christian friends, but as an
experession of the love that he bore to India
and India gave him. For the publisher of these
lovely meditations “chiefly of interest to Chris-
tians” (as C. F. A. himself said) is a devout
Hindu, who took up the task at his behest
because he was a valued friend and a great
servant of India. Shri Natesan is to be congra-
tulated on placing at the feet of Mother India
this posthumous garland of pretty flowers woven
by C F. A.
They are not sermons planned and prepared
for big audiences, they are just brief commun-
ings with the little brotherhood of the Christu-
kula Ashram at Tirupattur where he lived a
short while before his death. And though they
were “chiefly of interest to Christians”, they
are in many ways of universal interest, inas-
much as they represent the quintessence of his
religious experiences, and they show in his
luminously simple and charming style the essence
of a truly religious life. We see face to face in
these 150 odd pages the beautifully simple life as
he lived it, the profound love that he bore to
Christ and therefore to “ the poorest, the lowliest
and the lost”, the men he admired and adored,
and the Christian life that he ever held before
himself as a model to be lived. From the point of
view of style, they arc gems of literary beauty and
models of the chaste and limpid Anglo-Saxon
of which he was master. There is above all a
spirit of joy and beauty about everything that
he has written and which is an expression of
the joy and beauty that he had captured in his
heart from Christ,
He adored beauty wherever he saw it.
“ Since coming to live here, in South India,” he
says. "I have been more and more struck with the
tenderness of the landscape and the peace that
broods over it. What a lovely country it is 1
There are the hills in the distance, with their
gentle rise and fall. The sunrise and the sunset,
through the monsoon days, bring with them an
indescribable glory. Whenever the rain descends
nature at once responds, and the earth becomes
green with such a richness of colour that the eye
drinks it in with pleasure.”
But he adored Beauty which was an expression
of Truth and Goodness. Satyam, Shivanij Sundaram
he used to repeat very often.
^ Sandhya Meditations by C. F- Andrews ( G. A,
Hatesen and Co., Madras.) Price Re. 1. Postage
2 As. Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4. -
“Joy always comes at the sight of beauty. When
I see in the early morning a marvellously beautiful
shy with the clouds and mists of dawn all filled
with light, it gives me joy because of its beuut\\
Here in this Ashram all round us there is beauty.
This House of Prayer itself is very beautiful. All
buildings and the hospital look very beautiful amid
the trees with the hills in the background. Hut
this loveliness of Nature, which is all round us, is
only a dim picture of the heavenly Beauty, The
wonder of Christ’s love is this, that everythinsi
that He did had a radiance about it, which still
brings joy to us even when we think about it.
What he did was done in a beautiful way. ICven
today it gives us joy.”
And that is why some of the choice spirits
who lived lives of beautiful dedication are pictur-
ed to us in these pages — St. Christopher, Bishop
Westcott, Sadhu Sundarsingh, Principal Rudra.
These are more or less known to us. I shall
give here C. F. A.’s story of John Smith of
Demerara. He had been sent out by the London
Missionary Society to British Guiana where the
whites from Western Europe were minting money
out of the blood and sweat of slaves on sugar
plantations.
“From the moment John Smith landed,” says
C, F. A.. “ the slave-owners began to persecute him
and he was forbidden to preach to the slavc-s.
Pie replied: *I must obey God jather than man.*
And he soon became known all over PJritish Guiana
on account of his love for the slaves. At last
about the year 1830 there was a rising among the
slaves against the masters and this was put down
with a terrible amount of brutal force. The sia\e-
owners were frightened, and in their panic they
brought a charge against this missionary, saying
that he had encouraged the slaves to revolt. He
was thrown into dungeon, lull of malaria, and
treated cruelly by ^Ihe jailors, until at last, after
more than a year’s imprisonment and before hjs
trial was finished, he died in the prison a martyr s
death for the great cause.”
Interwoven with these are stories of the in-
dentured Indians in Natal, Trinidad, British
Guiana, and Fiji where C. F. A. went in order
to help to abolish that system of semi-slavery.
There is an evening’s talk devoted to the
returned emigrants at Matiaburz whom he went
to visit “ more times than I can remember and
their misery has been heart-breaking.” He made
repeated appeals to Government to take charge
of these miserable Indian emigrants and asked
his little audience to “ bear these poor Indian
emigrants on your hearts as they are being borne
on mine; for the burden has become too heavy
for me to bear alone.” And even when on the
eve of his fatal operation he disposed of his
meagre belongings, he asked the Metropolitan tc
divide the little money in his bag between the
nurses and the people at Matiaburz.
Though these are not full-fledged sermons there
are brief but illuminating comments on verses
from the New Testament. I shall give but one
instance — the commentary on John 1*17:
“The law was given by Moses, but Grace and
Truth came by Jesus Christ.”
“There is,” he says, “something wonderfully
majestic in the impersonal uniformity of Law where
159
JUNE 8, 1940 ] HARIJAN
HO individual exception is ailcvved to come in which
might interfere with the stern decrees of justice.
The planets in their courses fulfil their own laws
of uniform activity, and the inanimate world of
Nature seems also to be bound by uniform laws of
its own. But where sentient life comes in, the
greatest fact of all is not uniformity, but freedom.
The life which is merely mechanical loses its beauty.
To force each individual into a frame- work of
impersonal law, brings with it, in the end, death
instead of life.’*
Though he believed that “ in Jesus Christ the
Light of God became fully visible and focussed
in a single character which was able to reveal
not a partial image of the invisible God, but
the one true image which we, as human beings,
‘ could recognise and accept, he had no doubt
in his mind that Christ himself taught that
“ Wherever the good act is done from a good
motive, there is the fulfilling of God’s will, and
that act IS accepted by our Heavenly Father, ”
and “ that whatever good deed is done as an
act of love is done unto Himself.” And the
way to preach the Gospel was summed up by
him in these words: “Far, far more than what
v;e say and far more even than what we do,
’ is what we are. Only the heart can instinc-
tively devise, in a moment, the beautiful deed
with grace and say instinctively the beautiful
word with grace. That is why Jesus was able to
give us that most perfect of all His sayings:
' ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God.’ He could give us that word because His
own heart was pure.”
I can quote thus indefinitely from his beauti-
ful talks on the true Christian (suggested to
him by the hymn of the true Vaishnava which
I translated for him), or on the colour bar, or
on the sin of racial pride on which he has
■some scorching words to say. What, however,
has appealed to me most and what will live
with me always are his two little talks on prayer.
V/e have, he says explaining a text from St.
Matthew, to enter into our inner chamber, shut
the door of our hearts from all wandering
thoughts, to keep out the world and all its
•storms, and to be pure in our inmost hearts,
for “He is our Father who seeth that which
-is secret.” But why, it is asked, should one
pray, why should we not leave everything in
His hands? He has an answer which cannot
be bettered:
“The answer is really very simple. Indeed the
simpler we make it the better. For if we depend
on logic in such a matter as this, we are certain
to become confused and lose our way... Let me give
my answer in the form of another question. If any
one is the father of an extremely dear child, whose
love was all in all to him, would he be happy if
the child never brought to him any question to be
answered, and never made to him any requests,
however foolish sometimes they might be ? Is it
good, either for the child or for the father, to have
only distant relations with each other ? Surely not.
The essence of relationship of the father to the
child is one of complete dependence on the part of
the child. That dependence is really and trully, if
I may say so, a form of perpetual prayer..,. Don’t
let us become too bound by logic in thinking quj
this subject. Let us rather enter that Kingdom ^ of
Heaven which prayer denotes, with a childlike mind
remembering the words of our Lord when he said :
Except ye humble yourselves, as little children,^ ye
shall in no wise enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Sevagram, 28-5-40 D.
QUESTION BOX
(By M. K. Gandhi^
If You Have Courage
Q. My mother died last month. I have for a.
long time been following the practice of eating
food cooked by Harijans. The orthodox did not
like it, but they tolerated my practice. Three
years ago I accepted an invitation for a funeral
dinner given by a Muslim friend on the occasion
of his mother’s demise. Now my mother is dead.
My community have now boycotted all functions
in connection with my mother’s demise. What
am I to do ?
A. If you have courage, you will let the
castemen do their worst, but you will befriend
yout Muslim friend at all costs and dine with
him as often as is necessary. Such boycotts
should not be feared at all.
Benevolent Dictatorship
Q. When the rich become callous and selfish
and the evil continues unchecked, a revolution
of the masses with all the attendant horrors
inevitably results. Since life, as you have put
ir, is often a choice between evils, won’t you,
in view of the lesson which the history of
revolutions inculcates, welcome the rise of a
benevolent dictatorship which would with the
minimum use of force “ soak the rich”, give
justice to the poor, and thereby serve both ?
A. I cannot accept benevolent or any other
dictatorship. Neither will the rich vanish nor
will the poor be protected. Some rich men will
certainly be killed out and some poor men will
be spoon-fed. As a class the rich will remain,
and the poor also, in spite of dictatorship
labelled benevolent. The real remedy is non-
violent democracy, otherwise spelt true education
of all. The rich should be taught the doctrine
of stewardship and the poor that of self-help,
A Social Nuisance
Q. The beggar problem has become a social
nuisance everywhere, especially in the cities,
India can ill bear the burden of this array of
drones. They use self-t6rture, sometimes even
threats and menaces, to work upon the sympathy
and fear of our simple folk and extract alms
from them. Some of them have in this way
accumulated a secret hoard and lead a life of
vice and immorality. What solution would you
suggest for this problem ?
A. Begging is an age-old institution in India.
It was not always a nuisance. It was not always
a profession. Now it has become a profession
to which cheats have taken. No person who is
capable of working for his bread should be
allowed to beg. The way to deal with the prob-
lem v/ill be to penalise those who give alms tear
ISU
HABIJAN
[ June 8 , 1940
professional be^'^ars. Of course begging itself by
the able-bodiea should be penalised. But this
reform is possible only when municipalities conduct
factories where they will feed people against
work. The Salvation Army people are or were
experts in this class of work. They had opened
a match factory in London in which any person
who came found work and food. What I
have* however, suggested is an immediate palli-
ative. The real remedy lies in discovering the
root cause and dealing with it. This means
equalising the economic condition of the people.
The present extremes have to be dealt with as
a serious social disease. In a healthy society
concentration of riches in a few people and un-
employment among millions is a great social
crime or disease which needs to be remedied.
Economic Independence of Women
Q. Some people oppose a modification of
laws relating to the right of married woman to
own property on the ground that economic in-
dependence of woman would lead to the spread
of immorality among women and disruption of
domestic life. What is your attitude on the
question ?
A. I would answer the question by a coun-
and weavers whose lot the A, I. S, A. is striving;
to improve. Such persons can neither take the
pledge nor hold any office in a Congress organisa-
tion. No person or institution other than the
A. I. S. A. can issue the required certificates.
Students’ Difficulty
Q. We are students in Poona. We are taking
part in the drive against illiteracy. Nov/ in the*
parts we are visiting there are drunkards who-
threaten us if we go to teach people. Those
among whom we are working are Harijans. They
get frightened. Some suggest that proceedings
should be taken against these drunkards. Some
suggest we should try your method of wooing
them. Will you advise?
A. You are doing good work. Literacy drive
and many such things are by-products of the
big reform, perhaps the biggest of modern timeSo
As to the drunkards they must be treated as
diseased persons entitled to our sympathy and
service. You should, therefore, reason with them
when they are sober, and take even the beating,
if any, with good grace. 1 do not rule out
court proceedings, but they will be evidence of
want of enough ahimsa in you. But you cannot
go against your nature. If you do not evoke
ter question : Has not independence of man and
his holding property led to the spread of immo-
rality among men? If you answer ‘yes’, then
let it be so also with women. And when women
have rights of ownership and the rest like men,
it would be found that the enjoyment of such
rights is not responsible for their vices or their
virtues. Morality v/hich depends upon the help-
lessness of a man or woman has not much to
recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity
of our hearts.
A Temple Trustee s Poser
Q, I am a member of the A. L C. C. Per-
sonally I neither believe in nor observe taboos
relating to untouchability. But I am trustee of
a temple built by my ancestors who were
thoroughly orthodox in their religious outlook,
I feel that it would be a breach of trust to
throw it open to Harijans. Would that stand in
the way of my signing the satyagraha pledge ?
A. It would stand very much in the way of
your signing the pledge. It would be no breach
of trust if the law allows you to open the
temple. The condition was immoral as we have
now discovered and hence invalid.
Uncertified Khadi
Q, You say that a person buying or using
mill cloth cannot take the satyagraha pledge.
Can a person using, buying or dealing in uncertifi-
ed kbadi take the pledge or hold offices in
Congress committees ? Is a person or an associa-
tion other than the A. I. S. A. entitled to
certify khadi dealers ?
A. Certainly not. I repeatedly said that a
person who uses or deals in uncertified khadi
damages khadi and directly exploits the spinners
response from them to your wooing, your work
must not by held up because of the obstruction
referred to by you. Recourse to legal proceed-
ings is then indicated. But you must make all
honest effort before you go to law.
Sevagram, 4^6-40
NOTICE
We regret to announce that we have decided tc
close our Bombay Branch from the 8lli inst. We
have seen by experience that in the present state of
demand for handmade paper it is not possible
for that single infant industry to bear the burden
of an independent establivShment or even incidental
expenses in a big city like Bombay ; though we
may thankfully mention that the space occupied by
our Branch was given to us free of rent by a good
friend. As, however, we did not intend to run the
risk of a loss, we have thought it advisable to close
down the shop. Nevertheless "we will continue our
efforts at popularising handmade paper in Bombay
through correspondence and through friends who have
promised to help in this cause as a labour of love.
We have also decided to bear the freight by goods
train on all orders exceeding Rs. 25. All correspondence
should be addressed to Manafier^ Harijan — Poona 4.
CONTENTS ^ Pag^
Occasional Notes ... Pyarelal 154
Hindu-Muslim ... M. K, Gandhi 156
Panic ... M. K. Gandhi 157
“ Sandhya Meditations " ... M. D. 158
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 159
Notes :
Peace in Sirohi ... M. K. G. 155
’■ Untouchability ... M. K. G. 153
Handmade Paper ... M. K. G. 155
The Red Cross Fund ... M. K, G. 153
CoMiLLA Municipality
and Harijans ... M. K. G. 154
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergussoii College Road, Poona 4.1-
Subscription Rates — INLAIID: One year, Rs. 4, Six months, Rs. 3-8, Foreign : One year, Rs. 5-8 or, 8 sh. or 2
n
P. S. V. 14.
t
CmUesj^c Nowsp&peirs^
1. Name of Pa]3er
J-HL-o -v , .
2. Published at -
3. Dated
^larked
EOMBAY, June 15
F or the present there are onlv two paities in India — the Congics';
and those who side with the Con^icss and the oarties who do
not Between the twii thcic is no mc'^'tinq ground without one or the
other surrendeiing it^ puiposc, and i( tlie Congress Joses hope and lailh
and comes to the cluicIufjoii that it xiiust sta lender its original posit irr
for the ijurpose ot gclt'a:* a common measuro of agreement it will cees i
to be the power it is This view t. oxpiessod bv Mr Crandlii in the
Hatijan lo-dav wiitniff under the caption “Two Paitici’’
SCfB— 72 eS&B^rC
INlr Cr..'n''llii
Lblic* anpoals
a
•y
lilt
ncl
'O
cmJ
“Piivate anrl
)iic’ appoais arc li' me made to me
call all paiLios logcrhci and ainvc
' common agr^^oment, and then,
say \\ c *- liatl get v\ liat v e
I '(jiii CxicMt Britain Tlicst
1 1 lends loigot one ccnfial tact
Cont’icss whii h idi nt(js<-os to
Im Inch i and n mis un-
dt'M iLc’d indc'pcndciii'c, cannot
ke .1 common measure ol aeroe-
tit V itli (’v'pe who do not To act
oiwi'f would bo to betraj' Us
st Ix the nntui'c of things, Ihcio-
L*. Ihei' ^*011 he nil ‘all patties
liTv-neq i.inl'-,rs aU have a eom-
n purpose
'The British Clovornmcnt would
loi a c'ommon agreement, lI
■■ ier'cigin'''''’cl nui c»ne party
enough to take dcLivetv The
cios-^, U mu - 1 he acimiUed, hv.^
that slioneth to-day. It has conic
tn nUi’seiiT puiition m the taec <
, MUnn. II .1 docs not ncatecn
has enough patience, it vt ih
clijp suthoent sliciifith
veiv It IS an illusion cieated
Stives tJiaL we niutit cuine xo
»omc‘nl with all paiUes heioio
nial-i- any picgro'"
cjNT.y UEMOCTIaTIC BOTt\
rheie is onlv om demoeratie
•loci ptililicMl orgaiu'/^aiion, that is
•CnU«XC.ss. /r t
T'baSs"’ So “'S;
‘Sioam-ahon nhtch Ubo ««
is. IS popularly clecioa. >•
iklv eoinmundl and wanx
tdo India mlo two p.^ii.s, om
iiii 'iiid ihu uthfi i\'lci''<lem I rt.-x«
aff'tl liya tlu.Uro l.oaRiu -1
a.tun'f in d mo Uriti.-h Ciovcrn-
it shoulfl oum-' to U‘itns
stems olid dcpona upon
Th'it ivouicl he hhc
line the question, bu-
peluoting Biitish ithe
:>iii Maiitisabha will xio
r
an
wo
1
wixU Iho
Moslem
way ot
also ot
The
doubt
lavoLxred treatment lor Hindus.
:lin.A Hindu tStates
Into tor tUe tho'** ConffS "
iSiLTho SnV
errra'p't” mcetixg^Sio^n
one or the otUci suircn-
STo & sTlU. Theieiora, tho]»
“cVm-.tr But the atalemate
i.,:t til cxolxmi- • '-.'^'1
^ lb*' Co»'!|ru *■ *' • ' •
* Its nnn-violem-e luibids the
nif, l.oxn Ftanduig alum and r.rlu ^
The hiah<»hoi“c as the ixPpuUcnLs ssy
on {hJr^Tontraxy. U has woo ah
parbe.-,, disaini su-pwion and
iiust m its bona tides Chis n lai
un^yUo when b has el.^mied its ovin
'.lal/'ics ItiL c c-s may take timc.
ThXl time mu-t bo given It will bo
no r,'.Uu. But xl tho Con^c^a
hope and taith and comes to the con
ehiFioij thax U must surrondoi its oii
ginal position for the P^xpose ot
•netting a conimon mcasuio of a*.,icL-
menb It svill cease to be the powoi it
ja T'o-d.iv it IS the sheet-anchor of
India’s hope and faith It
woll wiUi It, It It
xuvav liom its moormgs. whothei it if.
in ,a minority or a majority — A.i' i
Editor: MAHADEV DESA5
VoL. Vin, No. 19 ] POONA — SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
ISrON-VIOLENCB AND KHADI
(jB^; M. K. Gandhi^
Mr. Richard Gregg, one of whose letters I
reproduced some time ago, has sent another
which I share with the reader :
“Last week I was sorry to see the report in
our papers of the death of Charlie Andrews. He
was such a dear, good man, mighty in his sweetness,
compassion, loyalty, affection and love. Such bound-
less capacity for affection ! He made the world a
better pla'ce. We will miss him greatly, but his
great example lives on.
All these months since I wrote you last I have
been wrestling intellectually with the problems of
discipline for non-violence and of non-violent persua-
sion and conversion, and how to state them and
their solution in Western terminology. As I think*
I wrote you, I am working on a book about those
two aspects of satyagraha, to supplement my Power
of Non-violence. I read and ponder, read and
ponder. In the last few weeks I have come to see
the pattern of the whole thing with much greater
clearness. My effort is to try to get the Western
world to realize the validity and practicalness of
your entire programme.
I have been so glad that during these last few
months you have insisted so strongly that the Con-
gress must earnestly and loyally take up the khadi
programme before you will lead them in any open
struggle of satyagraha against the Government. I
see clear as crystal the necessity for that. You are
absolutely right.
Aside from that aspect of the matter, I foresee
that after the present war is over, all Europe will
need your khadi programme and also your plan of
education without books, through handcraft of various
kinds. The middle class of England as well as the
Continent will be gravely impoverished. The same
will happen in the United States, and may be just as
severely as in Europe, for did not we have as severe
a fall economically from 1929 to 1934 as any of
the European countries ? The experience and techni-
cal resources which the khadi movement of India
has amassed will be of immense value in the post-
war years.
Despite the war and all its horrors, I am opti-
mistic as to the future of non-violence. Never before
in all the history of the world have there been so
many believers in non-violence, both in absolute
number and also relatively to the rest of the popula-
tion. Never before has that belief been found in all
groups, classes, religions and occupations. Never before
have so many prominent statesmen stated earnestly,
clearly and publicly the folly, futility and appalling
results of war and violence. Never have so many
military men been so unsure of the validity and
ultimate effectiveness of their method.
All during the past two years and rapidly since
the war began, the organized peace movements of
Britain and America have grown. They have never
been so large. Nor is it mere sentiment. Much keen
and searching thinking is going on about all aspects
of the problem.
Up to March 9th, 26,681 men among the mili-
tary conscripts of Great Britain had been officially
registered as conscientious objectors to war, as
compared with about 16,000 for the entire four
years of the war of 1914-18. Though one can never
be sure in advance, all the evidence indicates that,
if the United States were dragged into the war,
there would be a similar great increase in the num-
ber of conscientious objectors here. In the five or
six calls of conscripts in Great Britain between
last June and March of this year the percentage of
C.O.’s ranged from 1-6 to 2'2 %. This may be interest-
ingly compared with the estimate that in all coun-
tries the really effective or decisive work of govern-
ment is done by not over 2% of the population.
Further weight is given to this comparison by the
high intellectual calibre of the leaders of the paci-
fist movement in Britain. And while one should not
boast about one’s own country, the pacifists of this
country are not stupid, even though they may not
have world- wide reputations. The relation of these
facts to the future lies in historical analogy.
After the war of 1914-18 many of the pacifists
who had been severely persecuted during the war
became recognised leaders. This is likely to happen
again.
After the world war there was a strong pacifist
movement in all the nations which took part and
also in many neutral nations. This is likely to happen
again. At that former time much of the movement
was mere sentiment, and when it was severely test-
ed it broke. But since then there has been much
and intense thinking, so that believers in non-
violence understand the problems and their difficul-
ties and possible ways of solution much more clearly
than formerly. In future they will be much more
efifective than before.
After this war the hatreds and fears will probably
be deeper and stronger and more obstinate than after
the last world war, but there will be more honesty,
more willingness to recognise one*s own nation’s past
mistakes and faults, also more willingness to give up
old habits and experiment with new methods. The in-
creased group awareness will make for more awareness
of danger from endless hostility. It may prove to be
170
HARIJAH [ 22, 1940
a narrow choice between chaos and order, but I incline
to believe that man’s desire for permanent order
will be just a little stronger than his fears and
hatreds. It will be as if all the inmates of an
insane asylum, after a wild outburst of mutual
violence, were to decide to call a truce and try to
work out a co-operative plan for curing themselves.
If it be true that man’s desire for order and
significance in bis life are stronger than fear and
hate, the only programme which can produce order
and significance to life will have non-violence as its
backbone. This places a great responsibility upon
the believers in non-violence. It will require of them
great thought, discipline, and social invention. I
consider your khadi programme one of those great social
inventions. The Wardha education scheme is another.
I am writing a letter to J. C. Kumarappa about
some items that I have long wanted to discuss with
him, a set of suggestions for possible experiment by
the A. I. V. I. A. One is to try hanging small mosquito
net bags containing naphthaline moth balls in village
wells a yard or more above the level of the water.
The odour of the moth ball is much disliked by
mosquitoes, and as it is slightly heavier than un-
scented air it would lie like a blanket over the sur-
face of the water and keep the mosquitoes from laying
their eggs in the water, without harming the water
or t-ilHug the mosquitoes. The odour is not absorbed
by the water. Thus one breeding ground for malaria
might be cheaply, easily and harmlessly eliminated.
I have found it effective in a small open steel tank
here in my garden. I think I saw the moth balls
on sale in the Ahmedabad bazar, so I presume they
are obtainable. If not, certain of the aromatic herbs
will be found to be also repellent to mosquitoes, and
they could be used instead. The moth balls evapo-
rate after a while, so they would have to be watched
and occasionally renewed.
Another .application of the same idea would be
plpntiu g certain water-loving aromatic herbs along
RURAL HUMANITY
( Bv Mami Subedar )
The major problem of national planning is to
secure employment for millions of people, who
are either not employed at all, or who are under-
employed, i,' e. who have got plenty of spate
time.
The question is whether the growth of industry
in urban centres could absorb them all. The
reply clearly is that it would not absorb even
a fraction — not even two per cent.
If- all the industries projected by the Manu-
facturing Industries Sub-Committee were put into
operation, they would not touch the fringe of
this unemployment problem.
Unemployment here is a compulsory condition
and not through the choice of the people.
The labour, which is thus lost, is lost for
ever, both to these men and to the community.
National wealth can never increase while their
condition continues like this. They must be put
to work to improve their standard of life and
to enable them to have a robust confidence and
to be restored to human normality.
This means that such activities as they can
undertake must be provided for them without
removing them from their surroundings.
Rural industry is- not for the sake of having
the production, but for the sake of giving work
to these men. They become producers, and they
would be in most cases themselves the consumers. '
It must be so arranged that they shall be
consumers of things produced in the rural areas
in preference to things coming from urban areas
and factories.
The human claim is so paramount that every-
thing else must be subordinated to it. The
calculations in these matters cannot be made on
the basis of cost, but on the basis of human
l<aVkrtnr f-iirnori from Casual and inefficient to
the banks of village tanks and rivers, close to the
water’s edge. Mosquitoes lay their eggs preferably
in shallow water so that the larvae can escape
being eaten by small fishes. If the right herbs,
of a kind whose odour is^ repellent to mosquitoes,
were thus planted and kept growing, it would seem
likely to cut down the malaria in this way.
Anyhow I think these two experiments worth
trying. The mint family 'of herbs are known to be
repellent to mosquitoes.”
Mr. Gregg is a careful thinker. He takes
nothing for granted. The last paragraph of his
letter shows his practical nature. But I know
that no amount of logical thinking is going to
establish the supremacy of non-violence on earth.
The only thing that can do it is India's ability
to demonstrate beyond doubt its efficacy in
gaining and defending national freedom.
Sevagram, 8-6-40
Home and Village Doctor
By Satiah Chandra Daatupta
1384 pages. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages.
219 illustrations. Price Rs. 5 cloth-bonnd; By V. P.
P. Rs. 6. Rs. 6 leather-bound; By V. P. P. 7,
Available at Harijan o£Sce — Poona 4.
technically efficient.
It is not merely a question of encouraging the
rural industries in private hands. That is good,
but it will not go very fat. It is a question of
organizing production in rural areas. The men
do not know what they will do and when th®y
will do it. They have no resources for getting
the raw material, or even the simple band tools.
They do not know where to sell the stuff.
All this activity cannot be. therefore, left alone
to itself or to private enterprise.
The middleman’s expectations of profit arc so
high that rural industry of this character is
beneath his notice. Therefore he would not
bother about it. But the State cannot leave these
men to their fate.
It is not that factory industry must be cur-
tailed and ultimately replaced by hand industry,
but hand industry is the only field which offers
an immediate and urgent field of constructive
endeavour.
The attempt to solve all the problems of rural
humanity by means of reforms in land-holding
and revenue administration is the method which
JUNE 22, 1940 1
HASIJAN
171
the socialists seek, but this is inadequate. It is
not possible, by merely taking away rights in
land, that the landless could be absorbed to
useful and sustaining activity. The distress of
unemployment is also amongst those who have
land, where they can raise only one crop. The
amount of saving, which they can effect from
their present activities, is not adequate to secure
them either full sustenance throughout the year-
or many of the elementary needs on the basis
of present commercial supply from factories in
urban areas. The idea is that these things could
be manufactured in the rural districts themselves
and, by means of this self-help, without the
corroding influence of middlemen profiteering, the
standard of life of the people in the rural
districts could be materially improved.
If something is created in the rural districts
on these lines, it must be protected against the
onslaught of ever-increasing factory products. The
degree of restriction on factories would have to
be determined both as to location, number of
licences, quantities produced, qualities, and, last
but not the least, as to the freedom of movement
for goods so produced to reach everywhere.
Production in rural areas on the lines envisaged
above would sometimes be phenomenally cheap,
but in other cases it may be a little dearer
than factory production. All cases would not
be the same. This will want a very close-knit
organmation based on local knowledge and, while
the management would be in the hands of the
State, the cost of the administration and manage-
ment would have to be kept down, if the
scheme is not to 'fail.
It is true that this scheme of rural handicrafts
cannot cover those industries which need tremen-
dous equipment and can be only dealt with
in centralised factories. But it can cover an
astonishingly large number of every-day articles
in use, and the field has not yet been, to my
knowledge, fully surveyed as to what can and
cannot be done in rural areas, in villages, and
in the homes of simple people in their cottages.
Initially, taking a large mass of entirely un-
trained and undisciplined labour, things will be
dijficult, and only the simpler forms of produc-
tion would have to be attended to. But, con-
sidering that even in urban areas an entirely
new person could be put to work in a factory
and would work properly in periods ranging
from three weeks to three months, there is no
reason to despair. Untrained men put in charge
of trained men could be brought to the level of
efficient production in like period ranging from
three weeks to three months. Under proper
direction, their labour could be usefully employed
from the beginning. It would not be the case
of creating individual artisans who would pro-
duce from A to Z. It would be the case of
creating nuclei of one or two trained men, i. e.
full-fledged craftsmen, assisted by ten or twenty
untrained men, working with, and under the
direction of, the master-craftsmen; these men
would, in the period of a year or so, reach a
standard that would enable them to work on
their own or as centres of other nuclei, if it
was desired. Any plan for India that leaves
this problem of rural humanity out would be
like the plan of the British Government for
India, viz. absorption and exploitation for British
enterprise, wherever possible, and ‘ Devil take
the hindmost’, i. e. leaving everybody else to
his fate. It cannot leave anybody to his
fate. It must take account of the disabilities of
all and provide for them. The greater the dis-
ability, the greater must be the care, anxiety,
circumspection and provision.
Spinning Competition in Ramgarh
During the Congress Week there was the usual
spinning competition at the exhibition. There
were six tests — coarse counts up to 10, medium
up to 18, fine up to 30, very fine ranging from
44 to 158, spinning on the Magan Charkha, and
last on the takli. The examiners were Ramdev
Babu of Bihar, Shri Nandlal Patel of the Khadi
Karyalaya Ahmcdabad, and Prabhudas Gandfat
who was also the organiser. From the table before
me I see that the examination was as strict and
thorough as it should have been. In my opinion
the competitors were neither as many as should
have been nor from many provinces. They were
principally from Bihar and Gujarat, some from
Maharashtra and U. P, There were cash prizes,
the highest being Rs. 15, and trophies for the
winning institutions. It is worthy of note that
in the very fine yarn competition there were
many women. The finest spinner was Devsundari
Devi of Madhubani, Her count was p8. The
highest speed on the wheel was 618 yards per
hour of 10 counts. The highest on the Magan
Charkha was 925 yards of 15 counts. The
highest on the takli was 303 of 12 counts.
This is all satisfactory. There is not much scope
for increased speed with the present improve-
ments except on the Magan Charkha. Enough
experiment has not yet been made on that
wheel; But all accounts go to show that it has
further possibilities. The takli is any day the
queen for easy carriage, simplicity and cost.
On the whole it may prove to be the quickest.
Whereas the wheels may go out of order, the
takli need never. Experiments arc being made in
plying the takli after the style of the charkha.
I congratulate the winners. I only hope that
more interest will be taken than hitherto in such
competitions. Spinning competitions have a great
national value. I may note that the Maulana
Saheb was to have given the prizes, ^ut the
wholly unexpected downpour made it utterly
impossible to do so.
Sevagram, 17-6-40 M. K. G.
OLD ISSUES
Issues of Vols. I to VI of Harijan, with certain
exceptions, can be had from us for 3 As. per copy
{ including postage ). Issues of Vol. VIII will be
had at the published price plus postage. MANAGER
172
HAEIJAN
[ June 22, 1940
June 22 *940
HOW TO COMBAT HITLERISM
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Whatever Hitler may ultimately prove to be,
we know what Hitlerism has come to mean.
It means naked ruthless force reduced to an
exact science and worked with scientific preci-
sion. In its effect it becomes almost irresistible.
In the early days of satyagraha when it was
still known as passive resistance. The Star of
Johannesburg, stirred by the sight of a hand-
ful of Indians, wholly unarmed and incapable of
organised violence even if they wished it, pit-
ting themselves against an overwhelmingly armed
Government, had a cartoon in which the latter
was depicted as a steam-roller representing irresist-
ible force, and passive resistance was depicted as
an elephant unmoved and comfortably planting
himself in his seat. This was marked immovable
force. The cartoonist had a true insight into the
duel between the irresistible and the immovable
forces. It was then a stalemate. The sequel we
know. What was depicted and appeared to
be irresistible was successfully -resisted by the
immovable force of satyagraha — call it suffering
without retaliation.
What became true then can be equally true
now. Hitlerism will never be defeated by counter-
Hitlerism. It can only breed superior Hitlerism
raised to nth degree. What is going on before
our eyes is a demonstration of the futility of
violence as also of Hitlerism.
Let me explain what I mean by failure of
Hitlerism. It has robbed the small nations of
their liberty. It has compelled France to sue
for peace. Probably by the time this is in
print Britain will have decided upon her course.
The fall of France is enough foe my argument.
I think French statesmen have shown rare
courage in bowing to the inevitable and refusing
to be party to senseless mutual slaughter.
There can be no sense in France coming out
victorious if the stake is in truth lost. The
cause of liberty becomes a mockery if the price
to be paid is wholesale destruction of those who
are to enjoy liberty. It then becomes an in-
.glorious satiation of ambition. The bravery of the
French soldier is world-known. But let the world
know alM the greater bravery of the French
statesmen in suing for peace. I have assumed
that the French statesmen have taken the step
in a perfectly honourable manner as behoves true
soldiers. Let me hope that Herr Hitler will
impose no humiliating terms but show that,
though he can fight without mercy, he can at
least conclude peace not without mercy.
But to resume the thread of the argument.
What will Hitler do with his victory ? Can he
digest so much power ? Personally he will go as
empty-handed as his not very remote predecessor
Alexander. For the Germans he will have left
not the pleasure of owning a mighty empire but
the burden of sustaining its crushing weight. For
they will not be able to hold all the conquered
nations in perpetual subjection. And I doubt if
the Germans of future generations will entertain
unadulterated pride in the deeds for which
Hitlerism will be deemed responsible. They will
honour Herr Hitler as a genius, .as a brave
man, a matchless organiser and much more. But
I should hope that the Germans of the future
will have learnt the art of discrimination even
about their heroes. Anyway I think it will be
allowed that all the blood that has been spilled
by Hitler has added not a millionth part of an
inch to the world’s moral stature.
As against this imagine the state of Europe
today if the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians,
the French and the English had all said to
Hitler : “ You need not make your scientific pre-
paration for destruction. We will meet your
violence with non-violence. ,You will therefore
be able to destroy our non-violent army with-
out tanks, battleships and airships.” It may be
retorted that the only difference would be that
Hitler would have got without fighting what
he has gained after a bloody fight. Exactly.
The history of Europe would then have
been written differently. Possession might ( but
only might) have been then taken under
non-violent resistance, as it has been taken
now after perpetration of untold barbarities.
Under non-violence only those would have been
killed who had trained themselves to be killed,
if need be, but without killing anyone and
without bearing malice towards anybody. I dare
say that in that case Europe would have added
several inches to its moral stature. And in the
end I expect it is the moral worth that will
count. All else is dross.
I have written these lines for the European
Powers. But they are meant for ourselves. If
my argument has gone home, is it not time for
us to declare our changeless faith in non-violence
of the strong and say we do not seek to defend
out liberty with the force of arms but we will
defend it with the force of non-violence?
Sevagram, 18-6-40
Duty of Indians Overseas
Last week I referred to the duty of the
students to make collections for the Deenabandhu
memorial. Dr. Brookes’ letter, reproduced else-
where in this issue, should remind Indians over-
seas of their special duty. No man laboured so
hard, so sincerely or so effectively as C, F.
Andrews in their behalf. He travelled to distant
kmds to study personally the condition of the
Indian settlers in those lands. I hope that these
settlers will make collections and send their
quota to the Memorial Fund.
Sevagram, 16-6-40 M. K. G-
June 22, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
173
Notes
Caste Hindu Marries Harijan Girl
Shri Harekrushna Mahtab writes a letter about
a marriage between a Caste Hindu and a Harijan
girl in Orissa. From it I take the following:
“ Shri Radhamadhab Mitra of Khurda in Orissa
now serving as sub-inspector in the Excise Depart-
ment of the Orissa Government married a Harijan
girl Fulrani named by us on 4th March last strictly
according to Hindu rites with Brahmin priests, and the
ceremony was attended by about one thousand people
of all castes and communities. Radhamadhab is aged
about twentyfive. When he was a student in the
Khurda school he organised one Harijan boys*
football team. During your epic fast for Harijans,
Radhamadhab with some of his friends lived in a
Harijan village, and during that period he and his
friend promised to marry Harijan girls. His friends
forgot their promise but Radhamadhab carried it out.
When the proposal for marriage with a Harijan girl
was first made all the relatives and friends used all
sorts of pressure to dissuade Radhamadhab from his
resolve. When he first consulted me, I depicted a
very dark future before him. But undaunted by all
these forebodings he carried out his resolve. There
was opposition from the bride’s relatives who were
afraid of oppression from higher castes and also
of some divine punishment. But ultimately they
agreed. Radhamadhab has registered a deed of com-
pensation amounting to Rs. 500 in case he forsakes
his wife at any lime. In case he dies earlier, he has
registered another deed to enable his wife to secure
a substantial share from his paternal property. We
tried our utmost to secure the attendance of as
many high class people as possible, and thank God
we could get what we wanted. On the day of the
marriage about seven hundred Pans, to which class
the girl belonged, assembled and their joy could be
seen in their faces. Just imagine several hundreds of
high caste people sitting together with an equal
number of Harijans in front of a poor Pan house
witnessing the marriage ceremony and receiving betel
from the father of the bride. ”
1 congratulate Shri Radhamadhab on his
courage in breaking through the rock of caste
superstition. I hope his example will be copied
by other young men. May the union prove
happy. I would advise Shri Radhamadhab to
arrange for proper education of his wife who,
I understand, has not received any scholastic
training.
Another Tribute
Dr. Edgar Brookes has sent me through my
son a letter about his contacts with Deena-
bandhu. Dr. Brookes, my son tells me, is a
very learned man and deeply religious. He is a
well-known figure in South Africa apart from
.his being a senator. Here is Dr. Brookes’ letter
to me:
“You will pardon me, a complete stranger, for
thus writing to you. I am elected senator represent-
ing the Bantu * Natives * of Natal and Zululand in
the Union Parliament. As such I have had the
privilege of speaking more than once on behalf of.
groups of Indians suffering from disabilities in South
Africa. The urge to write to you has come to me as
during these last weeks I have been reading C. F-
Andrews* Christ in the Silence^ and thinking very
much of my dear friend who has entered into fuller
life — I dare not say ‘ died for I have never felt
him more living. Knowing something of what your
friendship meant to him and his ( I imagine ) to
you, I felt that I should like to tell you a little
of our contact. I met him not only here in South
Africa but also in England and France, where we
both spoke in connection with the Oxford Group
movement. He is godfather to my youngest son-
Mr. Andrews had the greatest of gifts — love. In its
weakness, it is yet the strongest thing on earth — ■
* terrible as an army with banners’- You have
taught us that lesson. I would rather be like Mr,
Andrews than the Prime Minister of a great country.
He was the closest among all the people that I have
ever met to what I imagine Jesus to have been. He
brought something to India. He learned much from
India, and much from yourself. Those who were
made humbler and better by knowing him will, like
myself, want to thank you for helping to make him
what he was.”
The letter shows how great was the influence
that Deenabandhu produced on those with
whom he came in contact.
Adult Literacy
The Gandhi Mission Society, Tiruvcnnainallur,
send me their half-yearly report of adult lite-
racy work. The total number of adults educat-
ed was 197. But the problem that really faces
them is ‘how to enable the adults to retain
the knowledge thus gained*. The report goes
on: “Nearly half the members who attended the
class during the first session have approached the
worker in charge to repeat the lessons. In fact
they had lapsed into illiteracy. The workers are
racking their brains to devise means to prevent
this lapse. ” The workers need not rack their
brains at all. The lapse is bound to occur
after the short courses that are given. The
lapse can only be prevented by correlating the
teaching to the villagers* daily wants. The dry
knowledge of three R’s is not even now, it
can never be, a permanent part of the villagers*
life. They must have knowledge given to them
which they must use daily. It must not be
thrust upon them. They should have the appe-
tite for it. What they have today is something
they neither want nor appreciate. Give the villa-
gers village arithmetic, village geography, village
history, and the literary knowledge that they
must use daily, i. e. reading and writing letters,
etc. They will treasure such knowledge and pass
on to the other stages. They have no use for
books which give them nothing of daily use.
Sevagram, 16-6-40 M. K. G.
Hindus & Musalmans of India
By Atulananda Chakrabartt Price Rs. 2-8-0.
Postage 4 As. extra.
Mahaixna Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10«0*
Postaige 8 As. Available at Harijan ofiScfr-Poona 4^
174 HARIJAX 1 22, 1940
THE ECLIPSE OF FAITH
II
A Got)d Group
Quite a different type were three who dis-
cussed the spinning wheel not in a carping
spirit but in a real spirit of inquiry. One of these
has been a regular spinner and spins well, but
she doubted that the spinning wheel could pro-
duce any tangible result, because she was afraid
that many were not going to take it up in the
proper spirit. I simply said to her : Are you
sure that you are doing it in the proper spirit ?
If you are, it is enough. You have to perse-
vere in the faith that your example will spread.
If you are not, perhaps it is your want of faith
that is spreading the infection and preventing
people from taking up the wheel. The second
of the three was convinced of the value of the
spinning wheel and even accepted its spiritual
and moral implications. But — ? He did not spin,
he had no time to, hut he intended to do so.
To him I said : “ You must remember that the
road to hell is paved with good intentions. The
moment the intentions become solid blocks of
action the road is bound to take the opposite
direction. ” He laughed. I added : “You believe
that you have got the faith and the conviction,
but let me tell you that you have not got
either, ” I think what I said went straight home.
The third friend, who is a spinner, accepted its
disciplinary value and all else but had honest
doubts about the capacity of the wheel to
enable us to preserve our independence in a
non-violent way. To him I said : “ Well if we
can win it by non-violence, I am sure even the
opponents of non-violence will agree that wc
can retain it by non-violence. What many of
them don’t believe is that independence can be
won by means of non-violence. But I would
give you another argument which I am sure
you will appreciate. Do you remember what
Pandit Jawaharlal said in one of his speeches
some time ago? He said Poland, if she had
resisted German aggression non-violently, would
perhaps have suffered less than she had done.
Well let us extend the thought. Her civilisa-
tion is a factory civilisation, and the same is
the case with the other devastated regions like
Holland and Denmark and Belgium. Now if
there .was no factory civilisation there but only
a cottage industries civilisation, the enemy would
have gained nothing out of destroying the cottage
crafts, and the devastated countries would have
taken no time to recover. What has happened
is that the enemy is in possession of all the
factories and is now turning them to his own
use..; This could never have happened if there
was a cottage industries civilisation. It should
imt now be difiScult for you to see that a
country/ reared on a cottage industries civilisa-
tion and which stands to lose much less by
another country’s aggression, would be less] liable
to aggression^ for one thing, and would certainly
resist such an jggression more effectively or-
would more effectively non-cooperate with a,
foreign forcible occupant than she could if she^
was dependent on a factory civilisation, “
I drew the attention of these friends to Shri
Vinoba’s words about the takli quoted in a
Marathi book on spinning called Va.st) apoorna :
“ Tukaram has sung — Tliou art with me wherever
I go. God never forsakes us wherever we may be.
The takli can from that point of view be a symbol
of God Himself. One can see God as much m
darkness as in light. The takli too does not depend
particularly un outward light. It is enough if there
is inward liglit in us. Yon can take God’s name
no matter how and where you are. Similarly you
can ply the takli no matter how and where you
are — sitting, lying down, walking. We can pray
both individually and congregationally. The whole
ashram can, if it was so minded, spin on the takli
congregationally. If the study of the Vedas were
the only road to salvation, salvation would be con-
fined to the rarest people. But the saints said
Rama-nama — repetition of God's name — was an
equally effective road, and thus made salvation possible
for the lowliest and the lost and the most ignorant
and illiterate. In khadi-worship tlic takli is lil.e •
Rama-nameu And as Rama^ncnna has a potency
equalled alone by its simplicity, even so the takli
which is simplicity itself has the potency of supplying
the clothing need of India, and for that matter ol
the whole world. And if you have the iaith, it can
even be a means of salvation, hbr me tlie mother,
the Gita, and the takli are as good as synonyms.”
And let it be remembered that he who has .
said this is no bundle of emotions but one whose
intellect is equalled only by his passion to reduce
everything that he preaches to practice, and
is unsurpassed by that of any other of our
intellectuals,
A Tough Lot
But I had a tough job with another batch
who appeared to me to have come only tt.
scoff. But to talk with such people is a good
exercise in patience, and one ought to have
plenty of this exercise nowadays. “ What do
you think of the international situation ? Wbt'
do you think will win ? ’’ was the question
with which they started.
“ You had better reserve that question for
bigger people, for those who know. I am auv
ignoramus in these matters, ”
“ But don’t you think socialism is going to bc:
the order of the day at the end of the war ?”
“ What if ? ”
“ You would welcome it in India ?
“ I would welcome socialism of Gandhiji’s •
conception, ”
“Is Gandhiji’s conception different from
Jawaharlal’s conception ? “
*Tt is different from the prevailing conception.
“ But what about Jawaharlal’s ? ”
“Yes, if you please, it is different from.
Jawaharlal’s. ”
“ How ? "
175
22, 1S40] HARIJAN
One is based on industrialisation; tbe other,
e. Gandhiji’s. is based on its opposite, ”
Oh, oh ! ’* the friend exclaimed banteringly
or incredulously or both.
“ But what is that brand of Gandhiji’s socia-
lism ? Has he written any book on it ? ”
He has not written a book, but he has
written enough to explain his attitude. And if
you have not read his numerous articles in
Harijan, I am afraid I shall have to ask you
to read them all before I engage in a discussion
with you. ”
Another friend immediately switched on to a
fresh subject: “ Which of the two you think
is more communal — the Muslim League or the
-Hindu Mahasabha ? ’ ”
'‘How will my answer help you?’'
“ No, r am a student and I want to know. “
“There is nothing to choose between the two/’
“ So you think they are equally communal.”
“ I think so. There may be a diflference of
degree, but there is no difference of quality. *’
“ Oh, is that so ? Without Hindu-Muslim
-unity, you think, there is no Swaraj, and
without Hindu-Muslim unity there is no
■satyagraha either. So there is to be no Swaraj
for ever?”
“ Why ? Don’t think I am an unbeliever in
Hindu-Muslim unity like you.”
“ But I would put the quekion differently.
Supposing Swaraj was possible without Hindu-
Muslim unity, would you reject it?”
“Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity is a
contradiction in terms, ”
“ But I say — suppose ? ”
“ But why should I suppose a contradiction ? ”
“ Why can’t the Hindus have Swaraj without
the help of the Muslims ? ”
“ And the Muslims without the help of the
Hindus — you might have added ! They would
have no Swaraj, but either suicidal strife or the
perpetual domination of a third party to whom
either will continue to look for help and protec-
tion. ”
“But if we continue to quarrel, why do you
throw the blame on the third party?”
“ Let the third party disappear and see if we
can combine or not. If we cannot, then we
shall have at least the satisfaction of blaming
■ourselves and not others.”
“ That satisfaction you will then have to your
heart’s content, for you will never unite. ”
“I know that we are not going to unite,”
'said I a little sharply, “if we go on chopping
logic. ”
“Then you are going to unite because you
-are hoping that you will unite? You think
hope is better than logic?”
“I thought your logic at least was your strong
point, but I was mistaken. You might have
asked me, ‘ Is want of logic better than logic?’
But you ask me, ‘ Is hope better than logic ? ’
I say hope is better than hopelessness. ”
” No, what I meant to say was that you
seemed to rule out logic altogether, ”
“If I did, I should not have wasted my breath
upon you. I have been arguing with you not
steering clear of all logic, ’* said I.
“ But I am not without hope. I hope Hindu-
Muslim unity may come. But it is not coining.
And if it is not coming, why not do without
it rather than wait for Swaraj until the Greek
Kalends ? ”
“ Again you are arguing for the sake of argu-
ment, and if you will pardon me, it is either
hypocrisy or self-deception that speaks in you.
For you now forget that you started with ridi-
culing Hindu-Muslim unity. ”
“But what do you mean by having faith in
Hindu-Muslim unity ?
“ Now you have returned to the right track. You
have no faith in it and you do not work for it. ”
“ How is one to work for it ? By shouting
Hindu-Muslim unity ? ”
“No. By doing concrete acts contributing to
that unity. I make you a very simple sugges-
tion. If you have Muslim students in your
class, try to befriend them and do little acts
of service for them. You are all five Hindus.
Supposing there was a sixth amongst you who
was a Mussalman, I would expect you to
behave with tbe Muslim friend with more
courtesy and consideration than with the
Hindu friends. For the Hindu friends will
understand you even when you fail in courtesy ^
but nor the Muslim who might not understand
you or forgive you. ”
“ You reserve all your advice for Hindus ? ”
“ How obtuse you are ! I am talking to a
group of Hindu students. If I was talking to a
group of Muslim students, I should give them
the same advice with respect to their behaviour
with a Hindu friend.”
“ But how will that help the general question
of Hindu-Muslim unity ? ”
“ Don’t go about with the burden of the
whole country upon your head. Be content with
what you can do.”
“ But I am behaving well with my Muslim
friends.”
“ Behave better, that’s all I can say.”
Whether it is the defect of our present
system of education or the prevailing tendencies,
there appears to me to be a general eclipse of
faith everywhere. Our appetite for talking and
argument has been whetted, but somehow we
have lost our moorings, we fight shy of patient
plodding and want quick results. One might
remind these friends of the present generation
who revel in Western learning that ' it was
Tennyson who sang :
Wherefore thou be wise
Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,
And cling to Faith beyond the forms of Faith !
She reels not the storm of warring wqrds.
She brightens , at the clash of *yes‘ and *noV
176
HARIJAN
[June 22, 1940
She feels the sun is hid but for a night,
She spies the summer through the winter bud.
She tastes the fruit before the blossom falls,
She hears the lark within the songless egg.
She finds the fountain where they wailed ‘Mirage!*
Sevagram, 10-6-40 M, D«
QUESTION BOX
CBy M. K. Gandhi)
Meaning of Spinning Activities
Q. It is an admitted fact that constructive
activity keeps the political atmosphere pure and
non-violent. You have recommended it for active
satyagrahis. This activity can be carried on in a
centre amongst Congressmen as also the villagers
generally, which may include such people as
old women etc. who take to spinning as un-
employment insurance, as is done in A. L S. A.
production centres. Your writings make one
infer that you want active satyagrahis to confine
constructive activity to Congressmen and parti-
cularly in the direction of making them self-
spinners and make them wear khadi of their
own yarn; the khadi in the first instance to be
brought from A. I. S. A. stores, until the
Congressmen produce their own yarn. Confining
attention to Congressmen or political Congressmen
seems to be more practicable than starting a
general khadi centre of spinning for wages. Is
this a correct interpretation of your writing?
A. Your interpretation is correct so far as it
goes. I do not want the Congress organisation
to be an indifferent or glorified copy of the
A. I. S. A. It has to do the work that the
A. I. S. A, does not do. Its motive will be pre-
dominantly political, whereas that of the A. I,
S. A., although it is a creation of the Congress, is
purely philanthropic and economic. The Congress
organisation aims at creating an army of non-
violent' soldiers or. to drop the military termi-
nology, a band of non-violent workers for the
freedom of the country. The spinning work and^^
all the allied processes keep Congressmen busy
and away from mischief. It will knit them to-
gether in a brotherhood, it will give them an
insight into village life, it will bring them in
direct touch with the villagers, it will give them
a hold on the economic condition of the masses
as nothing else will do. it will lead them on to
a study of the whole of the vast village problem,
it will make them sink their petty or big
differences and forget class, racial or religious
distinctions. The charkha may or may not have
all this potency inherent in it. I want Congress-
men to impute all these implications to it.
Test-tube Babies
Q. You say that motherhood is sublime but sex
is bad. From the spiritual and eugenic point of
view donVyou agree that the test-tube technique
of begetting babies is ideal since it altogether
eliminates lust and carnality from procreation ?
A. I would reconcile myself to your method,
if carnality itself can be eradicated thereby. Sc
long as I hold to the view that carnality pre-
vents man or -woman from rising to the fullest’
height possible, so long must I rebel against
these artificial methods of prpereation. Your
method, as far as I can sec, can only result in
multiplying idiots or monsters, not human beings,
thrown into the sea of passions which it should
be their pride to subjugate. But I own I belong
to an age that is perhaps dying. The new age
to come, when men and women will walk, if
they at all do, only for pleasure but go to
their work on wheels or ily to it, and when
the institution of marriage and all it implies
will be abolished, docs not enthuse me.
How to Face a Lie
Q. People believe in your sincerity when you
sympathise with Britain and France in their
struggle for existence, but some of us have
scented a danger that the Indian capitalists may
continue to employ you as a tool for keeping
India calm when these capitalists are reaping
rich profit as a result of this war. What steps
are you taking to remove this suspicion?
A. I propose to take no steps, even as I
took none when I was accused of having one
crore of rupees in the Bank of England. Lies
are best left unanswered. They die of inanition.
They have no * vitality of their own. They
flourish on opposition. If my whole life is not
suflScient answer to the lie referred to by you,
no steps I can take will remove the impres-
sion created by the lie. Mind you, 1 do not
dispute the fact that the peaceful atmosphere
created by my inaction benefits the capitalists,
but it benefits the masses more than the capi-
talists, for the inaction enables the masses to
garner their non-violent strength which will
enable them to deal effectively with capitalists
and imperialism which covers them,
Sevagram, 17-6-40
Speeches and Writings
By Gandhiji Rs. 4 + Postage 9 As.
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4.
CONTENTS Page
Non-violence and Khadi ...
M. K. Gandhi
169
Rural PIumanity
M. Subetlar
170
How TO Combat Hitlerism
M. K. Gandhi
172
The Eclipse of Faith— II ...
M. D.
174
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi
176
Notes ;
Spinning Competition
IN Ramgarh
M. K. G.
171
Duty of Indians Overseas M. K. G.
172
Caste Hindu Marries
Harijan Girl
M. K. G.
173
Another^Tribute
M. K. G.
173
Adult Literacy
M. K. G.
173
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Edttoi : MAHADEV CESAI
VoL. VIII. No. 20 ] POONA — SATURDAY, JUNE 29. 1940 [ ONE ANNA
THE ONLY CURE
I propose to revert to one or two of the
subjects dealt with casually in my talks with
the students reported recently. The War has
thrown everything into the melting-pot, including,
I hope, all the pet theories of modern econo-
mists. The world, it is said, is weary of violence
and wars. So was it after the holocaust of
1914-18, but at the end of 20 years we are in
the midst of another which is far more terrible
and which might cast in deeper roots of hatred
and revenge. The reason briefly is that we are
longing for the termination of violence but we
are innocent of the implicatio«ns of that termina-
tion. There are obvious difficulties in the way.
There are certain things v^hich have become
part and 'parcel of on..; life, e. g. machinery and
industrialisation, which w.. assume havj "o remain
until the end • ot time. W- agree that unem-
ployment is a curse, bul: when we seek itn cure
v;e raL,e <nclusiriahsr;t:u).i :,ia' ed. Capicahsm
is a curse, but whilsc k has r.o go, vve want
iiiduEtiialisation to remain.
The rcsulis of industrialisation may be studied
:r. a remarkabk aiLicie on Machinery by Father
Lailcmand in a recent issue of The "H-eiv Review.
It may be remembered that he deals strictly
w:tJ the economic results. The conclusions he
has drawn from his facts are different from
those I should like to draw. But let us sum-
marise the fact^ and figures he has taken from
La Vie Intellectuelle of October 25, 1936. The
first effect of machinery, he suys, is that it has
thrown men out of work:
“ Today excavations are carried out with the
Ingersoll spade which does the work of four hundred
men. In 1850 a man with a pickaxe could extract
800 tons of ore in one year; today with an electric
drill he could easily extract 24,000 tons; in 1850
we got 100 h. p. per man in a power station; in
the Dnieper Electric Central they get 20,000 h. p.
per worker employed. In short, man has come to
make himself very cheap, and he works to make
himself as cheap as possible. ”
All ‘ progress ’ means an increasing fall in
man s value.
“ Motorcar-making took 1,197 hours in 1914,
but 93 in 1934. In 1932 one worker made 453
bricks a day ; by 1934 he could make 1,500. At
the cigarette factory of Ivry ( in France ) which
turns out 2,500 cigarettes a minute, 250 women
were required in 1932, but not more than two in
1935 ; in three years machinery had multiplied pro-
duction and divided human labour by 125. It has
been calculated that in 1934, 250 men had to work
for a total of 2,000 hours to coal a trans-atlantic
boat ; by the following year two men working 16
hours in all could supply it with an equivalent total
energy in the shape of oil ; twelve months had
sufficed to reduce human labour to a mere fraction
(4/125 r
These figures refer to coaling. In other kinds
of work the reduction may be much greater.
But the reduction of human labour, far from
adding .to the flow of milk and honey or to
the stock of human comfort, or even to the
stock of energy, has spelt the doom of many.
The main activity of numerous men is rauscu-
lar, and machinery has put crowds of them oat
of action. Even skilled libour is affecced. “With
the ever-gro^/ing sine of the loachinery which
produces energy fewer and fewer sldlled hands
are required; one solitary k-^bourcr can command
a current of 20,000 .olts ia as kisurr'y r: v^'ly
as a currenc of 2,000 vch:'/'
It is an illusion to think that tho uncaiipk)y-
ment created by increasing machinery is tempo-
rary as new avenues of employment are creat-
ed by greacer production.
“Facts,” says Father Lallemaud, “have repeatedly
gone against so alluring a theory. In the last period
of prosperity, unemployment went on rising steadily
amidst plenty; it rose sharply as early as 1920, years
before the world-wide economic crisis; it went on in
the U. S. A. though that country is far €rom being
exhausted and its Government devised endless
measures to stop unemployment According to
M. P. Barraud some thirty million men have
nothing to rely on but their muscles; up to now these
thirty millions were maintaining about one hundred
million dependants. They have now been displaced
by all sorts of machines and gadgets; who is going
to feed their dependants? The problem is real and
can only become more and more acute as progress
is registered; machinery will more and more encroach
on the field of human labour, for cheap energy is
essential to competitive business.”
Shortening of working hours and giving more
leisure to the workers creates a problem which
•‘knows only of expensive solutions”.
Prof. Lallemand next describes the second
consequence of machinery. Production has
become over-abundant:
“In the course of the last two centuries, as
productive energy passed from f h. p. to 8 h. p.,
the energy found in the world’s crops grew from
178
HAEIJAH [ June 29, 1940
2i000 calories per head to 160,000. This does not
imply that all and everybody has that amount at
hand, but it measures the total stock available in
1933 all the word over. However much the world’s
population may have increased, the caloric value of
each man’s diet has been multiplied by eighty. The
trouble is that all could not have free access to that
gigantic stock of foodstuffs; in consequence its value
went down and production went down as well; hence
wages fell, the buying power of the working masses
decreased, and consequently also the demand for
foodstuffs.”
Big business believes in the fetish of figures,
and as soon as the neat equilibrium of their
balance-sheets is threatened, they destroy surplus
goods, rarefy the goods, keep up the price and
produce starvation in plenty. “In 1934 the
remedy turned into a panacea, they destroyed
886.000 wagons of wheat, 144,000 wagons of rice,
32.000 bags of coffee, 12 million tons of sugar,
6 million pigs, and 800,000 head of cattle. In
some cases they went one step further: they did
not only destroy the vine grapes, they rooted out
the vine stocks. They threw into the manure
pit, they burned in furnaces, they destroyed at
will ; but to do so with an easy conscience,
they forgot that whole districts were starving
and that thirty million .unemployed and their
seventy million (hundred million?) dependants
were looking at them (Thus) overproduction
was not real, but what looked like overproduc-
tion was only maldistribution,”
Father Lallemand touches on another aspect of
machinery with which we are not concerned, viz.
the glut and consequent suicide of capital,* The
tragedy of the whole argument is that, while the
writer’s facts and figures drive one irresistibly to
the conclusion that more machinery will simply
hasten the doom of man, the writer comes to a
different conclusion. “ We shall never have enough
machinery,” he says, “until every citizen has
his full meals every day, his own house, his car,
his radio, and his television set, his holidays,
and his old-age pension; we shall not have
sufficiently rationalized distribution until we see
to it that everybody has bread before any-
body is choked with cake. ” Is not this a con-
tradiction. in terms ? We have seen that ‘the
progress of machinery has not. enabled every
citizen to have his full meal, his house, his car,
etc. It has on the contrary put one man in
possession of abundance, several houses, several
cars, and left thousands without any of those
things. Will rationalized ” distribution do
the trick? And how can you rationalize distri-
bution unless and until you prevent a man from
living on the labour of another ? There is
something in large-scale machinery which dis-
ables man from living on his own labour and
makes him rely on the labour of others. No
matter how much you rationalize distribution
and deprive large-scale machinery of its sting,
you cannot deprive it of its natural property
of displacing labour. If there are thirty million
men in America entirely dependent on muscular
labour with one hundred million people to.
support out of their earnings, there are in
India about five times as many people dependent
entirely on muscular labour and a proportionately
lai'ger number of dependants to support out of
their earnings. No amount of rationalization can
conjure away this unemployment and starvation.
Father Lallemand goes on to describe “ration-
alized distribution”.
“A system of distribution of g;oods, commodities,
services should start from ihc true view qf man;
it must be based on the worth of man, and proceed
from a sincere esteem and respect for everything
that is human. Were our economic system based
on man’s value, work would be made easily access-
ible to all men, the remuneration for work would
be compatible, with man’s worth and duties, provision
would be made for an amount of leisure sufficient
for all non-economic tasks.
Well, ” tlie true view of mem ” is that he will
not be made to slave for another, and that he
will not exploit another for his own gain. This
is impossible except under a structure of society
based on handicrafts, ensuring man an honourable
subsistence for the work that he can cheerfully
give. Edward Carpenter hid the finger on the
root cause of our present ills when he said that
” nothing but the general abandonment of the
system of living on the labour of others will
avail. There is no other way- This, whether as
between individuals or as between nations, is
and has been since the beginning of the world
the root cause of war.”
The mere securing of the ownership of the
instruments of production by the State will not
end the evil.' Unless large-scale machinery mak-
ing giant enterprises possible disappears, exploita-
tion of man by man or of nation by nation
will not disappear, and unless large-scale machi-
nery disappears the devaluation of man’s energy
and man’s slavery to machine will not disappear.
The present economic structure has made the
problem of over-population glaringly visible, not
because there is real over- population but because
there is the over-population of idly rich people.
A communist or socialist structure can eliminate
the idly rich, but inasmuch as it insists on
industrialisation it will not eliminate parasitism,
which is inherent in the ownership, whether by
the State or by an individual, of large-scale
machinery, and which is at the root of all
violence and wars. Unless this curse of parasitism
disappears there is no end to violence or war
and no healing of nations. And unless truth and
non-violence are reflected in all national and
individual activity,— a thing that is possible only
under a handicraft civilisation — parasitism will
not cease. To quote Edward Carpenter again;
“ Truth and simplicity of life are not mere fads ;
they are something more than abstractions and private
affairs, something more than social ornaments. They
are vital matters which lie at the root of national
well-being. They are things which in their adoption
June 29, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
179
or in their denial search right through the tissue
of public life. To live straightforwardly by your own
labour is to be at peace with the world. To Jive
on the labour of others is not only to render
your life false at honie^ but it is to emroach on
those around you to invite resistance and hostility;
and when such a principle of life is favoured by a
whole people, that people will not only be in a state
of internal strife, but will assuredly raise up external
enemies on its borders who will seek its destruction.**
In other words, a country organised politically
and economically on the non-violent principle
can have no internal strife and no external enemy.
Sevagram, 24-6-40 M. D.
CUEIOUS OBJECTIONS
( By K. G. Mashruwala )
I came across recently three persons whose
objections to khadi and the charkha appeared
curious to me. One of them, a captain of a group
of students, told me that while he had prevail-
ed upon every one of his comrades to sign
either the Independence or the Satyagraha Pledge
and ply the charkha regularly as required by it,
he himself did not sign either of the pledges
as a protest against the general character of the
spinning clause which did not make any dis-
tinction between leaders and followers, i. e.
men of superior ability or importance and the
masses, but imposed a common discipline upon
all. He believed in khadi culture and was con-
vinced that the economic reconstruction of society
must be mainly based on khadi and village
industries, but he was unable to admit that,
therefore, it was necessary for people like
Gandhiji, Jawaharlal or Vallabhbhai to spend any
part of their precious time in themselves spinning.
He did not believe in leaders who are unable
to attract followers unless they themselves do
what they ask their followers to do. I told him
that when spinning became as widely re-establish-
ed in the Indian home as, for instance, cook-
ing or tilling, it was possible that spinning by
everyone may not retain such importance as to
become part of. a political organisation. If one
believed in the importance of the charkha, then
whether one is a leader or an orderly one
must prove one’s faith by plying it. But my
friend insisted that, if twenty years of regular
spinning by Gandhiji and the Sardar and so
many alMndia leaders left the Congressmen cold,
there was something wanting either in the
leadership or the charkha cult. As he was con-
vinced of the soundness of the charkha cult, he
must lay the blame upon the leadership. He,
for one, hoped to spread the charkha without
himself or the important members of his group
being required to spin as a 'condition precedent
to its acceptance.
Another friend told me that he was convinced
that khadi was a good bread-giver to lakhs of
villagers and should be patronised. But he was
unable to do it, because khadi had come to be
associated with high character. It was hypocritical
to wear khadi without simultaneously becoming a
man o£ plain living and high thinking”. As he
led the life of an ordinary worldly man, he dare
not touch khadi. I told him that it was good
that he attached to khadi not only economic
but also spiritual value, hut the economic value
was capable of being detached from its spiritual
value, and even men of no character would,
by wearing khadi to the extent of its economic
value, render service to their countrymen. More-
over, since in his mind khadi was associated
with character, his taking to khadi may without
any conscious effort on his part elevate his
character also. As the evolution would be un-
conscious, it would also be painless, and to that
extent all the more welcome. But he ended by
saying that he was unable to feel the call yet.
The third friend said that he did not require
any argument to feel convinced of the relation-
ship between spinning and non-violence, and
considered the charkha to be indispensable in a
non-violent civilisation. But he had not yet begun
to spin, because he did not want to make a
beginning until he felt convinced that, once he
began to spin, the charkha would take such posses-
sion of him that a day without spinning would
create a blank in his life. If he was not till this
day feeling something amiss without spinning,
where was the guarantee that he would not give
up the charkha after commencing it ? If that was
possible, the spinning in the interval would be
an act of hypocrisy. I told him that until he
began to spin he would not be able to give
the charkha an opportunity to take such posses-
sion of him as he desired. But, even at the risk
of the charkha dropping away again from his
life, there was nothing wrong in taking to it
as an innocent hobby or a pleasant relaxation.
But he, too, did not feel the call as yet.
All the three visitors were spiritually-minded,
intelligent young men of promise. All of them
expressed their conviction about the soundness
of the khadi doctrine, two of them even more
forcibly than I myself have the courage to do.
And *yet they would not do the one thing which
their convictions would naturally make us expect
from them. What was wrong here ? I came to the
conclusion that the incongruity in all the cases
is attributable to the training which we the
people of the middle class receive at home and
in the school. The only labour which we are
taught to perform is that connected with books,
paper and pen. For physical development we
may take walks, go to gymnasiums, play cricket
or football. For indoor recreation we may
play chess, cards, etc. But, except during the
unavoidable absence of a servant or the ladies,
we may never employ our limbs to produce
or manage any of our needs ourselves. Not
only are we not taught to do them, but are
taught to make our condition worse, we arc
trained to regard such work as below the
dignity of an intelligent and ambitious man.
The same training also inculcates in us love for
180
HAEIJAN
[ June 29, 1940
flimsy, cheap and tawdry things. The result is
that even when reason is convinced, the will to
follow its dictates is lacking if it demands sacri-
fice. So we find the paradox of men subscribing
to a general proposition but finding an excuse
satisfactory to themselves for not enforcing it in
their own lives.
‘l-jcLtijan
1
June 29
£940
BOTH HAPPY AND UNHAPPY
( M. K. Gandhi )
It was on the 18th inst.- that I expressed the
.following hope in Harijan:
“If my argument has gone home, is it not time
for us to declare our changeless faith in non-violence
of the strong and say we do not seek to defend
our liberty with the force of arms but we will
defend it with the force of non-violence ? ”
On the 21st the Working Committee felt
unable to enforce such faith in action when the
time for it came. For the Committee never
before had an occasion to test their faith. At
the last meeting they had to lay down a course
of action for meeting impending anarchy within
and danger of aggression from without.
I pleaded hard with the Committee : “ If you
have faith in non-violence of the strong, now
is the time to act up to it. It does not matter
that many parties do not believe in non-violence
whether of the strong or of the weak. Probably
that is all the greater reason for Congressmen
to meet the emergency by non-violent action.
For if all were non-violent, there could be no
anarchy and there would be no question of
anybody„ arming for meeting aggression from
without. It is because Congressmen represent a
party of non-violence, in the midst of parties
who do not believe in it, that it becomes
imperative for Congressmen to show that they
are well able to act up to their faith, "
But the members of the Working Committee
felt that Congressmen would not be able to act
up to it. It would be a new experience for
them. They were never before called upon
to deal with such a crisis. The attempt made
by me to form peace brigades to deal with
communal riots and the like had wholly failed.
Therefore they could not hope for the action
contemplated.
My position was different. With the Congress
non-violence was always a policy. It was open
to it to reject it if it failed. If it could not
bring political and economic independence, it was
of no use. For me non-violence is a creed. I
must act up to it whether I am alone or have
companions. Since propagation of non-violence is
the mission of my life, I must pursue it in all
weathers. I felt that now was the time for me
to prove my faith before God and man. And
so I asked for absolution from the Committee.
Hitherto I have been responsible for guiding
the general policy of the Congress. I could no
longer do so when fundamental differences were
discovered between them and me. They readily
recognised the correctness of my attitude. And
they gave me the absolution. Once more they
have justified the trust imposed in them. They
have been true to themselves. They had not
the confidence in themselves or those whom they
represented, that they could express in their
actions the required measure of non-violence.
And so they made the only choice they could
honestly make. It was a tremendous sacrifice
they made — the sacrifice of the prestige that
the Congress had gained in the world for
unadulterated non-violence, and the dissolution
of the unwritten and unspoken bond between
them and me. But though it is a break in the
common practice of a common ideal or policy,
there is no break in the friendship of over
twenty years’ standing,
I am both happy and unhappy over the result.
Happy because I have been able to bear the
strain of the break and have been given the
strength to stand alone. Unhappy because my
word seemed to lose the power to carry with
me those whom it was my proud privilege to
carry all these many years which seem like
yesterday. But I know that, if God shows me the
way to demonstrate the efficacy of non-violence
of the strong, the break will prove to have
been temporary. If there is no way, they will
have justified their wisdom in bearing the
wrench of letting me go my way alone. If that
tragic discovery of my impotence is in store for
me, I hope still to retain the faith that has
sustained me all these years and to have humility
enough to realise that I was not fit enough
instrument to carry the torch of non-violence
any further.
But this argument and doubt are based upon
the assumption that the members of the Work-
ing Committee represent the feeling of the vast
majority of Congressmen. They would wish and
I hope that the vast majority of Congressmen
had in them the non-violence of the strong.
No one would be more glad than they to dis-
cover that they had underrated Congressmen’s
strength. The probability, however, is that there
is no majority but only a good minority which
represents the non-violence of the strong. It
should be remembered that the matter does not
lend itself to argument. The members of the
Working Committee had all the argument
before ' them. But non-violence, which is a quality
of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the
brain. Therefore what is required is a quiet but
resolute demonstration of non-violent strength.
The opportunity comes to everyone almost daily.
There are communal clashes, there are dacoities,
there are wordy duels. In all these things those
who are truly non-violent can and will demon-
strate it. If it is shown in an adequate measure,
it will not fail to infect their surroundings.
June 29, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
181
I am quite clear that there is not a single Con-
gressman who disbelieves in the efficacy of non-
violence out of sheer cussedness. Let the Congress,
men who believe that the Congress should adhere
to non-violence in dealing with internal disorders
or external aggression, express it in their daily
conduct. Non-violence of the strong cannot be a
mere policy. It must be a creed, or a passion,
if ‘creed’ is objected to. A man with a passion
expresses it in every little act of his. Therefore
he who is possessed by non-violence will express
it in the family circle, in his dealings with
neighbours, in his business, in Congress meetings,
in public meetings, and in his dealings with
•opponents. It is because it has not expressed
itself in this way among Congressmen that the
members of the Working Committee rightly
concluded that Congressmen were not ready for
non-violent treatment of internal disorders or
external aggression. Embarrassment caused by non-
violent action would move established authority
to yield to popular will. But such action has
obviously no play in the face of disorders. We
have to court death without retaliation and with
no malice or anger towards those who bring
about disorder. It is easy enough to see that
non-violence required here is of a wholly different
type from what the Congress has known hither-
to. But it is the only non-violence that is true
and that can save the world from self-destruction.
This is a certainty sooner or later, sooner rather
than later, if India cannot deliver the message
of true non-violence to a world whiqh wants to
be saved from the curse of wars and does not
know how to find the deliverance.
Sevagram, 24-6-40
P. S. After the foregoing was written and
typed, I saw Jawaharlal’s statement. His love
for and confidence in me peep out of every
sentence referring to me. The foregoing does
not need any amendment. It is better for the
reader to have both the independent reactions.
Good must come out of this separation.
M- K. G-
NON-VIOLENCE CU3£
NON-COOPERATION
( By Kailas Nath Katju )
In the war that is now raging nothing has
affected me more than the plight of refugees
from war zones. They flee out of fear or are
evacuated by their own armies. In the midst
of terrible arms of every kind everywhere they
are helpless, lost. Contemplation of recent
happenings has, through the valley of doubts
and misgivings, led me to the truth that non-
violence is the weapon of the strong, an d
that non-violence with non-cooperation at its
side is the most potent weapon of defence and
the surest remedy foe the ills of mankind.
Truly this doctrine is excellent as ,it makes
warriors even of those who may be feeble of
body but stout of heart and of mind. It is a
weapon which can be wielded by all — men, women
and children — and which does not classify nationals
into soldiers and civilians, combatants and non-
combatants. In the war of non-violence every-
body is a soldier who knows not of flight when
danger approaches but faces and courts death
without malice, but in no circumstances co-
operates with the enemy. Nowadays Govern-
ments run away leaving the people to obey the
orders of the invader. People who obey the laws
of non-violence never obey such orders but die.
It is said that these are counsels of perfection
and take no account of human nature. But all
through recorded history violence has been almost
deified. Poets have sung of it, and people
have been taught during ages to acclaim it as
something grand and noble. Non-violence coupl-
ed with non-cooperation has had no such adven-
titious advantages. It has not been boosted. It
has been often dismissed as being the attribute
of a perfect yogi, of almost a divine man.
Humanity has been so far engaged in glorifying
the act and art of killing. The nobility of
dying without killing has never been fairly put
before mankind.
The futility of dependence upon armed strength
has been conclusively demonstrated in this war.
Armaments are increasing strength for destructive
purposes. Their cost will bleed people white.
And there is no war to end war. Each war
leads to another. Hatred breeds hatred, and is
never killed by more violent hatred. In the midst
of war imagination is captivated by tales of
heroism, of matchless bravery in killing the oppo-
nent. The horrors of war recede to the back-
ground, for the time being. As for us in India,
who have no desire to govern others, no imperi-
alistic ambitions, let us be true to the genius of
our civilisation and its culture, and renounce any
desire to kill others as an instrument of national
policy. Let us, in times of danger, hold fast
to our homes without fear or terror, wield
the weapon of complete non-cooperation with
the enemy, cheerfully pay the price of death,
if that be demanded. People have nothing to
fear. Who can part us from our motherland ?
I am writing this under the shadow of Jagan-
nath — the Lord of the World — whose temple
remains across centuries. Wars and warlike
methods of defence have failed wholly in the
past — that is the teaching of history. Non-
violence with non-cooperation with the enemy
may develop all that is highest .in us, and may
satisfy the human craving for acts of heroism,
and gallantry. Let us, under Mahatma Gandhijfs
leadership, give it a chance.
Puri, 13-6-40
Just Published
The long awaited one-volume cheaper edition of
Gandhijfs The Story of My Experiments with Truth
( Autobiography ) has now been published by the
Navajivan Press, Kalupur, Ahmedabad. This edition
contains a few photographs which add to the value
of the book. Price Rs. 4, Postage 10 As. extra.
Satyagraha in South Africa — by Gandhiji*
Companion volume to Autobiography,
Price Rs. 4-8-0 + postage 9 As. extra.
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4,
182
H AHiU
GANDHIJI ABSOLVED
The following is the full text of the Working
Committee’s declaration of policy:
The Working Committee have been deeply
moved by the' tragic events that have taken
place in Europe in startling succession and in
particular by the misfortunes that have befallen
the people of France. These events have already
had far-reaching consequences, and they arc
likely to be followed by other happenings
which will lead to novel situations and complex
problems.
Ever since the commencement of the European
war the Congress has followed a policy which
was based on its principles and on the attitude
of the British Government towards the demand
that India should function as a free and in-
dependent country. This policy was confirmed
in the Ramgarh resolution. The manner of the
application of this policy will necessarily depend
on the situation which changes from day to
day. Problems which were distant are now
near at hand and may soon demand solution.
The problem of the achievement of national
freedom has now to be considered along with
the allied one. its maintenance and the defence
of the country against possible external aggres-
sion and internal disorder.
The war in Europe, resulting from a desire for
imperialist domination over other peoples and
countries and a suicidal race in armaments, has
led to human sorrow and misery on a scale
hitherto unknown. It has demonstrated the in-
efficacy of organised violence, on however- vast a
scale, for the defence of national freedom and
the liberties of peoples. It has shown beyond
a doubt that warfare cannot lead to peace and
freedom; and the choice before the world is
uttermost degradation and destruction through
warfare or the way of peace and non-violence
on a. basis of freedom for all peoples. Mahatma
Gandhi has presented to the peoples of the
world, crying for relief from the crushing burden
of war, a weapon in the shape of organised non-
violence designed to take the place of war for
the defence of a people’s rights and freedom
against armed aggression. He feels that at this
critical phase in the history of man the Con-
gress should enforce this ideal by itself declaring
that it does not want that India should maintain
armed forces to defend her freedom against
external aggression or internal disorder.
While the Working Committee hold that the
Congress must continue to adhere strictly to
the principle of non-violence in their struggle
for independence, the Committee cannot ignore
the present imperfections and failings in this
respect of the human elements they have to deal
with, and the possible dangers in a period of tran-
sition and dynamic change, until the Congress
acquired non-violent control over the people
in adequate nieasure and the people have imbib-
ed sufficiently the lesson of organised non-
[ June 29, 1940
violence. The Committee have deliberated over the-
problem that has thus arisen and have come to
the conclusion that they are unable to go the full
length with Gandhiji. But they recognise that he
should be free to pursue his great ideal in his
own way, and therefore absolve him from respon-
sibility for the programme and activity which
the Congress has to pursue under the condi-
tions at present prevailing in India and the world
in regard to external aggression and internal
disorder.
Many of the problems which the Working
Committee have considered in this connection
are not of the present, though they may be of
the near future. The Committee wish to make
it clear that the methods and basic policy of
non-violence in the national struggle for freedom
continue with full force and are not affected in
the least by the inability to extend it to the
region of national defence.
The War Committees that are being formed
are definitely aimed at increasing the war effort.
In view of the Congress policy, they cannot be
supported, and Congressmen cannot participate
in them or contribute to war funds, nor can
Congressmen associate themselves, under present
political conditions, with Government-controlled
Civic Guards.
Congress committees should organise, where-
ever necessary, people in villages and other areas
for self-defence and in order to maintain a sense
of public security in their respective areas. This
should be done on a non-communal basis and
in full co-operation with all other groups
interested in this task.
In view of the difficult times that loom ahead,
it is essential that the Congress should function
as an active and disciplined organisation. Provin-
cial Committees are enjoined to take necessary
steps for this purpose. They should realise that
it is of urgent and vital importance that the
Congress should function in this way in these
days of crisis, and should not be merely a roll
of vast numbers of inactive members. All
members of the executive committees, in particular,
are expected to take a continuous and active
part in the Congress work, and those who are
unwilling or unable to do so are failing in their
duty to the country and are of no service to
the organisation.
The critical situation that faces the world
today requires vigilant attention and action
whenever needed. For this purpose the Working
Committee will meet at frequent intervals, and
all members must keep in readiness to obey
an urgent summons. The All India Congress
Committee should be summoned to meet in.
the last week of July.
Congress and War Crisis
Price Re.* 1+2 As. postage.
Self-Restraint v, Self-Indulgence Parts I & II.
Price Ra 1+3 As. postage, for each.
Available at Harijan Office— Poona 4.
June 29, 1940 ] HARIJAN iSS
WHAT THE MASNAVI SAYS
( B j; M- K. Gandhi )
I gladly publish the following sent to me by
Advocate Rustomji Andhyarujina of Bombay;
In the latest issue of Harijan while dealing
with the letter of a Khan Bahadur from Delhi you
write the following lines of eternal truth :
‘ Religions are not for separating man from one
another, they are meant to bind them.’ (Page 157^
2nd column )
These lines remind me of the immortal words of
a famous Persian poet put into the mouth of God
who addresses Moses in verse 14 of the poem. viz.
‘Thou hast come to this earth to unite; thou
hast not come to this earth to separate.’
Original :
To barac Vasl kardcrn amadi.
Na barac Fasl kardan amadu
I give below a faithful translation of the whole
poem in order to show the beauty and the grandeur
of the truth contained in the above verse:
‘ Moses once saw on the road a shepherd who
was exclaiming thus; “Oh God Almighty!
Tell me where Thou art, so that I may become
Thy servant, stitch Thy heavy shoes, comb Thy hair,
Kiss Thy hand, rub Thy feet, and sweep the floor
for Thee to sleep.
If Thou wouldst fall ill in future, like Thy kith
and kin I would grieve for Thee.
Oh my Lord, my life is sacrificed to Thee, to-
gether with my children and all the property that
I own.
Aye, all my sheep are sacrificed to Thee : every
call of ‘ hae-ha ’ of mine addressed to my wayward
sheep is for Thy remembrance 1”
In this strain that shepherd was speaking %vhen
INIosss sp^e to him thus : “ Whom art thou
addressing ? *’
He replied, “ I am addressing Him who created
us, the One from whom became manifest this earth
and this revolving celestial globe (Charkh). ”
Moses exclaimed : “ Alas, thy head has become
arrogant and discourteous ; thou hast ceased to be a
Musalman; thou hast turned an infidel.
If thou dost not tie up ( stop ) these words in
thy palate, the fire ( of Hell ) will spread out and
consume the whole world. "
The poor shepherd cried in agony ; “ Oh Moses,
thou hast stitched my mouth; the repentance that
' thou hast caused in me has consumed my soul. "
He tore his robe into tatters, heaved a burning
Sigh, set his face towards the forest and disappeared
in its midst.
A voice reached Moses from God saying : Why
didst thou separate my slave from Me ?
Thou hast come to this earth to unite ; thou
hast not come to this earth to separate,
Knowsst thou that We do not see the exterior
nor the words ; W-e see only the interior .and the
real thing.”
No sooner did Moses hear these words of censure
from^ the Almighty God than he ran after the
shepherd in the thickness of the wood.
At last Moses was able to find Him out in the
wilderness. The Prophet told him ; “ Good news for
thee! for, God has given me permission to tell thee,
do ^ not worry about the conventional modes and forms
whilst addressing Me, but instead speak out whatever
thy narrow heart prompts thee to speak.
( From Masnavi-e-Molavi ) * ”
How I wish the beautiful truth embedded in
these verses will be taken to heart by every
one of us. Is not the Pakistan movement a
denial of the obvious truth?
Sevagram, 24-6-40
QUESTION BOX
( Bj; M. K. Gandhi )
Vows and Will Power
Q. I am a genuine seeker after brahmacharya.
But in spite of all my prayerful effort I am
sinking deeper and deeper into self-indulgence.
I cannot blame my partner for it. My circum-
stances do not permit me to enforce the rule
about segregation.
You advocate and believe in the efficacy of
vows. You have said in Harijan that *‘for the
weak in mind and soul vows are like tonics.”
But how will you administer this tonic to a case
like mine who has not the strength of will to
carry out the vow he has taken? Had I such
a strong will, the necessity for taking vows
would not have arisen.
A, Let me bluntly tell you that I do not
believe in your genuineness, not that you are
wilfully lying. You are unconsciously un-genuine.
If you are genuine, you will at least observe
the rules of the game. You give up your case
when you say you cannot segregate yourself
from your wife for want of room, I have never
heard such an excuse. If you take the vow,
you must at least produce the necessary atmos-
phere around you for its observance. Everyone
who has successfully carried out the vow has
invariably observed this first condition. If
you are living in only one room, you should
go elsewhere or send away your wife or have
a relative to sleep in the same room. The
question is how far you arc determined. It may
be that you want to observe brahmacharya
because you have read much about it and would
like to be classed among brahmacharis. I know
many sucji young men. If that is your case,
you should not make the attempt. One must
have a burning desire to live that life. If you
have it, you will adopt the measures that all
aspirants have invariably adopted. You are then
bound to succeed. If you have not read Self^
restraint v. Self-indulgence, you should read it.
What to Do ?
Q. The situation in the country is becoming
graver daily. Everywhere panic is growing. In
certain parts armed gangs are already organis-
ing themselves to take advantage of the ensuing
anarchy in case the central power should dis-
integrate or weaken. The danger may not be.
imminent, but it would be folly to ignore its
possibility. With all the education in non-violence
which the country has received during the last
twenty years, you will agree that it has not
developed the sort of non-violence that can be
effective in the face of anarchy and gangsterism.
The Government is taking steps to organise the
citizens for self-defence. What is the duty of
those who look up to you for lead and guid-
ance? Should they take part in these Govern-
mental activities? If they should not, what else
are they to do? Surely they cannot sit with,
folded bands doing nothing.
184
HAEIJAN
[ Jl^NE 29, 1940
A. I am unable to say what the Congress
will exactly do, in view of the recent statement
of the Working Committee. If you believe in
non-violent treatment of anarchy and the like,
naturally you will prepare yourself and your
neighbours and those whom you can influence
for non-violent defence. I quite agree with you
that no responsible person can sit idly by in
these times. Violent preparation would need
long previous training. Non-violent preparation
means mental adjustment. Possibility of anarchy
there undoubtedly is. But if you are non-vio-
lent, you will not give way to fear. Do not
anticipate anarchy, just as you do not anti-
cipate death though you know that it is a
certainty. If you are non-violent, you will be-
lieve that there will be no anarchy. But if
unfortunately it comes, you and your companions
or followers will give your lives to prevent it.
Those who give their lives, in trying to kill
those whom they regard as robbers or mlscbief-
makers, do no better, possibly they do worse.
They risk their lives, and there is darkness after
they are gone. Vv/'bat is more they may leave
things worse by feeding the fire of violence by
counter-violcncc. Those who die unresistirigly
are likely tc still the fury of violence bv their
wholly inncccnr sacrifice. But this truly no’*-
violcnt action is not possible un!css it spring;,
from a hccrc belief that i;e v/hom you fe-r
and regard as a robber, dacoit, or worse, anti y. ..
are on:, and th^t therefore it is better that
you die at Li? hands than that he, j'our i^aoran:
hrotiiC- , sneiilci clic Vi, youtti-'.
Q. Tb? tv/j nations ihcory is by w.iy of a
ccunterbicni to the deixiand for a Constiluenr.
Assembly which is about as absurd as the other
thing. To me tbe idea of a Coriaticuent Assem-
bly ignores the existing conditions. 95 per cent
of our people are illiterate, and nearly cent per
cent arc svrayed by religious prejudices; and then
there is the additional factor or corruption. And
the fatal objection to a Constituent Assembly is
that without a genuine desire on the part of
the majority to give effect to safeguards the
best of these are bound to prove unreal,
A. Surely you cannot speak of the Consti-
tuent Assembly side by side with Pakistan. The
latter is wrong as I conceive it, in every way.
There is nothing wrong in the idea of a Con-
stituent Assembly. At its worst dangers surround
its formation. Every big experiment is beset
with dangers. These risks must be taken. Every
effort should be made to minimise them. But
there seems to me to be nothing like a Consti-
tuent Assembly for achieving the common pur-
pose. I admit the difficulty of illiteracy. Indeed
effect of corruption because it is so widely dis-
tributed. Thus in the Congress there are much
corruption and jealousy, but they are confined
to those few who run the machinery. But the
vast body of Congressmen are untouched by
these defects, though they profit by the good the
Congress does. The danger you mention about
safeguards will be reduced to the vanishing point
if they come through a Constituent Assembly.
For safeguards laid down by the representatives
elected by the adult Muslim population will
depend for their safety not on the goodwill or
honesty of the majority but on the strength
of the awakened Muslim masses. Fatality really
attaches to your wrong conception of the
majority, not to a Constituent Assembly, There
is a majority of Hindus undoubtedly, but we
observe that in popular political assemblies
parties are not rigidly divided according to reli-
gious opinions, but they are according to politi-
cal and other opinions. Tnc curse uf commu-
nalism became intensified by the niciouuction of
separate eiccrora‘cs. Tlie cry for p:j*iition is the
loiUcai outcome, but it ij also the stni-igest
condemnaiion, of sepauitc cioctora:.,:.'. When we
Lave leanu whuoin v.e sh;fil coasc think in
terns of separate elr.ttoralvs r\rd two
t bciicv'j in I' c ii-nau"- iioouno..:- Ij:. 't,,' f'atLr.:.
tWM-oft)ie st'/oer h" the C' j:/
The Mus'uM vote wiu t\c so
iar us their specie i internee i conL. 'h Arn' h.;
communally, tiiereforVy tk:* iV if ihe.'e is u..\,
t. bone a Coits A.uiC' ■» ‘ -y to
u/i the pat'i. 0 i the rjMuus, Lur ^ ti’.*' j ^'.,''.111'*
vo:c goes in lh7..u:‘ of paihhoi, 'lU'.v Lihe
ckher to subrniiL x';ot co one but r-,. I'.uei:;.
or to a civil war. As things arc, ah :• ihetn-
sclvcs by passing rct;olutior'L; seoi 'g :hcir
names in print. In practice all iX ifs f'cmahi \;!iere
we are in a state of subjection. A C ions tit .:crit
Assembly is a reality. It will not be a debating
or legislative irresponsible body. By registering
its final decision it will decide the fate of
millions of human beings. You may oppose it.
If you are successful in your opposition, there
is the dread prospect of anarchy, not an orderly
civil war. There seems to me to be no solution
of the painful deadlock except through a
Constitueiit Assembly.
Sevagram, 24-6-40
Mahatma Gandhi
By S, Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs, 5-10-0.
Postage 8 As. Available at Harijan ofiice-Poona 4*
CONTENTS Page
The Only Cure ... M. D. 177
Curious Objections ... K. G. Mashruwala 179
Both Hatpy And Unhappy LI. K. Gandhi 180
adult suflEfage was introduced at the instance of
Muslim nationalists including the late Ali
Brothers. The danger of corruption is also there.
The greater the organisation the less felt is the
Non-violence cum Non-
COOPERATION
K. N.
Katju
181
Gandhiji Absolved
182
What the Masnavi Says ...
M. K.
Gandhi
183
Question Box
M. K.
Gandhi
183
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VoL. Viri. No. 21 ] POONA — SATURDAY. JULY 6. 1940 [ ONE ANNA
TO EVERY BRITON
(By M. K. Gandhi')
In 1896 I addressed an appeal to every Briton
in South Africa on behalf of my countrymen
who had gone there as labourers or traders and
their assistants. It had its effect. However im-
portant it was from my viewpoint, the cause
which I pleaded then was insignificant compared
with the cause which prompts this appeal.
I appeal to every Briton, wherever he may
be now, to accept the method of non-violence
instead of that of war for the adjustment
of relations between nations and other matters.
Your statesmen have declared that this is a
war on behalf of democracy. There are many
other reasons given in justification. You know
them all by heart. I suggest that at the end
of the war, whichever way it ends, there will
be no democracy left to represent democracy.
This war has descended upon mankind as a'
curse and a warning. It is a curse i n asmuch as it
is brutalising man on a scale hitherto unknown.
All distinctions between combatants and non-
combatants have been abolished. No one and
nothing is to be spared. Lying has been
reduced to an art. Britain was to defend small
nationalities. One by one they have vanished, at
least for the time being. It is also a warning.
It is a warning that, if nobody reads the writing
on the wall, man will be reduced to the state of
the beast, whom he is shaming by his manners.
I read the writing when the hostilities broke
out. But I had not the courage to say the
word. God has given me the courage to say it
before it is too late.
I appeal for cessation of hostilities, not because
you are too exhausted to fight, but because war
is bad in essence. You want to kill Nazism. You
will never kill it by its indifferent adoption. Your
soldiers are doing the same work of destruction
as the Germans. The only difference is that per-
haps yours are not as thorough as the Germans.
If that be so, yours will soon acquire the same
thoroughness as theirs, if not much greater. On
no other condition can you win the war. In
other words, you will have to be more ruthless
than the Nazis. No cause, however just, can
warrant the indiscriminate slaughter that is going
on minute by minute. I suggest that a cause
that demands the inhumanities that are being
perpetrated today cannot be called just.
I do not want Britain to be defeated, nor do
I want her to be victorious in a trial of brute
strength, whether expressed through the muscle
or the brain. Your muscular bravery is an
established fact. . Need you demonstrate that
your brain is also as unrivalled in destructive
power as your [muscle ? I hope you do not
wish to enter into such an undignified competi-
tion with the Nazis. I venture to present you
with a nobler and a braver way, worthy of
the bravest soldier. I want you to fight
Nazism without arms, or, if I am to retain the
military terminology, with non-violent arms. I
would like you to lay down the arms you have
as being useless for saving you or humanity.
You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini
to take what they want of the countries
you call your possessions. Let them take posses-
sion of your beautiful island, with your many
beautiful buildings. You will give all these, but
neither your souls, nor your minds. If these
gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will
vacate them. If they do not give you free
passage out, you will allow yourself, man, woman
and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse
to owe allegiance to them.
This process or method, which I have called
non-violent non-cooperation, is not without con-
siderable success in its use in India. Your
representatives in India may deny my cldm. If
they do, I shall feel sorry for them. They may
tell you that our non-cooperation was not
wholly non-violent, that it was born of hatred.
If they give that testimony, I won’t deny it.
Had it been wholly non-violent, if all the non-
cooperators had been filled with goodwill towards
you, I make bold to say that you who are
India’s masters would have become her pupils
and, with much greater skill than we have,
perfected this matchless weapon and met the
German and Italian friends’ menace with it.
Indeed the history of Europe during the past
few months would then have been written differ-
ently. Europe would have been spared seas of
innocent blood, the rape of so many small
nations, and the orgy of hatred.
This is no appeal made by a man who does
not know his business. I have been practising
with scientific precision non-violence and its
possibilities for an unbroken period of over fifty
years. I have applied it in every walk of life,
domestic, institutional, economic and political.
I know of no single case in which it has failed.
Where it has seemed sometimes to have failed,
I have ascribed it to my imperfections. I claim
186
HARIJAN [ July 6, 1940
no perfection for myself. But I do claim to be
a passionate seeker after Truth, which 2S but
another name for God. In the course of that
search the discovery of non-violence came to me.
Its spread is my life mission. I have no interest
in living except for the prosecution ot that
mission.
I claim to have been a lifelong and wholly
disinterested friend of the British people. At
one time I used to be also a lover of youz
empire. I thought that it was doing good to
India. When I saw that in the nature of things
it could do no good. I used, and am still using,
the non-violent method to fight Imperialism.
Whatever the ultimate fate of my country, my
love for you remains, and will remain, un-
diminished. My non-violence demands universal
love, and you are not a small part of it. It is
that love v^hich has prompted my appeal to you.
May God give power to every word of mine.
In His name I began to write this, and in His
name I close it. May your statesmen have the
wisdom and courage to respond to my appeal.
I am telling His Excellency the Viceroy that
my services are at the disposal of His Majesty’s
Government, should they consider them of any
practical use in advancing the object of my
appeal.
New Delhi, 2-7-1940
ABOUT WORKING COMMITTEE’S
DECISION
( By M, K. Gandhi )
I have been receiving several letters both from
Congressmen and non-Congressmen including friends
from the West deploring the recent decision of
the Working Committee, These correspondents
have nothing but admiration for the courage the
members have shown in doing what they felt
was a duty though very unpleasant, but all of
them deplore the decision and would have the
Working Committee to reconsider it. Of all
these letters there is one which is a reasoned
plea for not abandoning non-violence for internal
disorders or external attacks. The correspondent
■encloses also an extract from a letter he wrote
to a friend of his who ridiculed the method of
satyagraha. Both the letter to me and the
extract referred to have intrinsic merit and are
opportune at this juncture. I have omitted from
the letter the part that disputes the correctness
of my tribute to the French statesmen for suing
for peace. French capitulation, he considers, was
unjustified. It has given him a great shock.
“But," says the writer, "the decision of the
Working Committee has come as a greater
shock." From the extract too I have omitted,
for the sake of brevity, a paragraph which
though very interesting was not strictly neces-
sary for his argumAit.
The Letter
“The enclosed was written to a friend of mine,
about a month back, in answer to his query whe-
ther what he called the Gaudhian muddle was not
serving only to add to the general muddle in which
we live today. It affirms my absolute faith in
satyagraha, not only as a convenient instrument for
regaining independence for our country, but as the
only law for humanity to follow. 1 have set out
some of the reasons that have led me recently
increasingly to place my faith in satyagraha; but
this faith of mine is held not so much for any
reasons that I can state as because it answers to
the deepest part of my nature, i have only learnt
to recognise it lately, as I did not before. Your
votings and, even more so, your example have
played a decisive part in helping me to do so. I
•mention all this because I wish to present my
credentials before I go on to the matter which has
impelled me to address this communication to you.
It is my belief that the main problem with which
humanity is faced today is this same — that of
recognising its deepest nature. My hope is that, in
its extremity, its eyes may forcibly be turned inwards.
Perhaps the process has already begun. Will it
complete its course, or just stop half way ? I find
it difficult to answer. The decision of the Congress
Working Committee to adopt measures for national
defence, in spite of you, has come as a huge
disappointment to me. I feel India is throwing
away a great opportunity
Today it is no longer the example of single
individuals — even when they happen to be of your
stature — that can retrieve humanity from the slough.
The effort of whole communities is required. I repeat
India is . throwing away a great opportunity, which
may not recur. She is playing false to her mission.
It is her mission to set an object-lesson to huma-
nity. And circumstances have conspired to place
her in a peculiarly advantageous position to do so.
The English, while they are engaged in defending
their hearth and home, in fighting for their very
existence, cannot be expected to be ‘ disinterested
The same is true of all the combatants. The Germans,
especially, have been so drugged by continuous pro-
paganda that they are proof to every sentiment except
a militant patriotism. The smaller neutrals are too
much a prey to panic. The Damoclean sword of a
likely Nazi invasion hangs continually over thera,
and this is not a state in which the deepest nature
of humanity reveals itself. America has ail the handi-
caps of a rich man, against whom, it is said, the
gates of the Kingdom of Heaven are barred, Russia
is already wedded to another ideology, and I, for
one, w’ould not risk an opinion about it. China and
India alone remain, of whom the former is already
engaged in a defensive war. India has the advantage
of not having to face an imminent invasion as yet:
so that, while there is time, she can bring a free
mind to bear upon the problem. Her lone struggle
with British Imperialism for her independence by
the method of non-violence has already revealed to
her, to a great extent, its potentialities. All her
traditions and philosophy are in her favour. Then she
has nothing to lose. Of course, I do not commend
the sort of courage that springs from despair, and
that would be no asset to those who are fighting
for satyagraha. But at least a negative advantage
flows from the circumstance. Above all, she has the
advantage of your leadership. It is a privilege she
enjoys to have you to guide her destinies, and every
privilege, to my mind, carries with it corresponding
duties,
^ To declare that preparations should be made for
national defence, while retaining non-violence as a
method for national liberation, is, to my mind, to
make a travesty of non-violence in the sense in
which every true satyagrahi understands it. I have
no use for self-determination as such. I agree with
Clive Bell in thinking that ‘ civilization is an elaborate
protest of individual intelligence and sensibility against
July 6, 1940]
HARIJAIT
187
the fiock-instincto’ And patriotism is only flock-
instinct glorified. Individualism, in its finest sense,
is not incompatible with either the only right type
of patriotism or cosmopolitanism. They rather depend
upon it. Individualism should be our test for judging
them. What the Working Committee is engaged
in doing, to my mind* is to put the cart .before
the horse. It is non-violence that should be the end
— cr rather at this plane the end and the means
become identical — . and self-determination the means.
The question of non-violence not being enough, there-
fore, simply does not arise. Either non-violence is an
essential part of the best type of life that man has
it in his nature to live, or it is not. If the former,
the assertion that it is not enough becomes mean-
ingless. If the latter, let us throw away all preten-
sions of being on a higher moral plane than the
British, and frankly confess that we are but making
a virtue of necessity.”
The Extract
“ You make an observation to the effect that it
is the wish of everyone to live according to the
law of satyagraha, only it is not possible — that is,
owing to circumstances over which he has no
control. In a sense, of course, this is true : and a
ground for optimism. The desire for moral effort
( which is the correlate of intense, fruitful living )
is there in everyone. But that does not mean that
moral effort is easy, or that everyone will willingly
take to it. No, an average person, much more so
a conventional one, definitely does not want it, is
suspicious of it. It is much more pleasant to
gratify ones passions. An angry man finds much
greater satisfaction in his orgy of anger than he
would if the cause of the anger were removed. The
majority of us live by our passions. Our love for
our children, for relations, for friends, when it is
not tainted by self-interest, is, for the most part,
mere lust of one kind or another, an emotional
orgy. Patriotism is the worst kind of emotional
orgy, because it is abstract in character and cannot
easily be brought to the test. No, it is not easy
to live by the law of satyagraha: the very thought
of it is scarifying to most people.
To a real satyagrahi evil itself has no existence :
truth alone is. Man lives only when he is in
close association with the law of satya or reality.
In this he resembles the creative artist, who looks
upon the world as so much raw material for
shaping into his work of art. The satyagrahi sees
reality as being created, born every instant as it
were. At least so it is so far as we, finite
beings, are concerned. Therefore a satyagrahi has
no rigid code of morality, for circumstances change
from moment to moment; and he has no antagonisms,
for truth is unity. Now you see how foreign it is
to the spirit of a satyagrahi to nurse grievances :
for the attitude is a limiting one, and his effort is
ever to compass more and more of reality. The
tragedy of a crippled person does not consist in his
being crippled, but in his spirit getting cramped
thereby. The fact of being crippled so obsesses him
that his vision is distorted. That is why it has been
found that cripples have made the greatest criminals.
But it is at least possible for* them to get out of
the obsession, and then their bondage wotild be at
an end ; and their condition would be superior to
that of healthy, well-formed young men who go on
living their lives in obedience -to instinct. Non-violence
is the attitude of a satyagrahi for whom antagonisms
do not exist;, it is, as Gandhi has said, while being
as soft as a petal, also as hard as flint. Don’t
you confound it with mere sentimental sparing of
pain to others. That kind of non-violence would
always be to the advantage of the vested interests and
would thus defeat its own purpose. Gandhi wants
to OMSt the British from India, because he believes
that India has been crippled owing to the British
connection, and that that has been good neither for
India nor for Britain: the British imperialism, which
is, indirectly, no less responsible for the present war
than German Nazism, is the result of it. That is
why self-determination.
But there is self-determination and self-determina-
tion. Gandhi puts a much higher cocnolation on that
prefix ‘seif’ than most people evidently do. Otherv/ise
there would be little justification for his demand for
it. Matter is infinitely divisible, and there is no limit
to which self-determination cannot be carried. Jinnah’s
Pakistan Scheme, and other similar schemes that have
followed and are following in its wake, are the
reductio ad absurdiim of the principle. You must not
forget that self-determination is only a convenient
formula. To clothe it with flesh and blood, as it
were, much more is required than a severance of the
British connection. For that reason there is the
constructive programme of Gandhi. There is the
charkha to teach you that economy and self-control
are the dynamics of a satyagrahi’s life. It will
restore the lost self-confidence of millions, level false
distinctions, and bring about a subtle but sure change
of attitude which can transform the whole national
life: it will replace competition by co-operation, and
place at a discount the vain pursuit of power and
prestige, and force attention to the elements of
existence, and thus provide us with our roots. There
is the Wardha Education Scheme with its harnessing
of handicrafts to the purposes of education, so that
our children might grow up in close touch with the
realities, and a syllabus especially designed with a
view to developing an intelligent comprehension of
the affairs of the world. There is the Harijan
Scheme ( if there is a ‘ scheme *)» a symbol of the
satyagrahi’s belief in social equity. There was the
affair of Rajkot meant to give strength to the cause
of the people of the States in a characteristic way.
There are the satyagrahi camps where special training
is being imparted. You see, the Gandhian programme
is comprehensive, and is designed to bring about a
total change of national mentality.* It is not that
all the 37 crores of India will turn satyagrahis over-
night : but that they would be provided with a new
scale of values, and with adequate discipline and
marching under leaders of insight and resource they
can accomplish wonders.
Now consider what would starting the movement
at this moment imply. England is at a critical
moment in her history, and the very existence of her
empire and even country is threatened. If we take
advantage of her plight, not to mention the fact
that success would be very dubious, we shall for ever
have alienated the sympathies of one of the most
gifted of nations ( let our grievances against her not
blind us to the fact that she is gifted), and the
solution of the world problem will be pushed further
than ever : our own moral force will be considerably
weakened. Indeed, it will very probably have vanished.
For, if the citadel of satyagraha is broken through at
one place, it will become exceedingly difficult to save
it from complete destruction. We shall have to begin
all over again. But I must qualify my statement.
A satyagrahi never placates another's feelings, except
where it is required by the law of satya. If there
were not the sentiment of vengeance so strongly
lodged in so many of us ( indeed the clamour for the
movement to be started is a sure sign of it ), it
would not be harmful to start the movement even
at this time. The situation cannot be envisaged
except with an effort of the imagination. The spec-
tacle would be so enormously impressive that self-deter-
mination would be ours for the asking. The position
of the British in our country, under any other con-
ditions, would become untenable. The next step for
( Continued on p* 191 )
188
HARIJAN
I July 6, 1940
July 6 1940
SOME VITAL QUESTIONS
C By M. K. Gandhi )
H. E. the Viceroy is again conferring with
leaders of parties. I was invited, but not as a
party leader or a leader at all. I was invited
as a friend to help him, if I could, to come to
a definite conclusion, especially to interpret the
Congress mind to him. It is better, in the light
of what is happening ( and things will presently
move with lightning velocity), to consider some
of the questions that will demand quick
decision, if they will not have been decided
before these lines are in print.
The first thing that everyone has to consider
for himself is whether Dominion Status of the
Westminster variety can be acceptable to India.
If it has not become a myth already, it will be at
the end of the war, Britain herself, victorious
or defeated, will never be the same as she has
been for these few hundred years. But this
much is certain that her defeat, if it must
come, will certainly be glorious. If she is
defeated, she will be because no other Power
similarly situated could have avoided defeat. I
cannot say the same of her victory. It will be
bought by a progressive adoption of the same
means as the totalitarian States have adopted. I
must say with the deepest pain that British
statesmen have rejected the only moral influence
they could easily have got from the Congress
to turn the scales in Britain’s favour. It is no
blame to her statesmen that they have not
availed themselves of that influence. They did
not see the need of it. It may well be that they
did not perceive the moral influence itself which
I have claimed for the Congress. Whatever may
be the case, it is clear to me that India’s imme-
diate objective must be unadulterated Independ-
ence. This is no time for mincing words or hiding
our thoughts. I cannot think of anyone wanting
less than Independence for his country, if he
can get it. No country has ever got it without
its people having fought for it. Anyway the
Congress made up its mind long ago. Even if
India is to render effective help to Britain, it
can come from a free India. Crores may be
drained from India as of yore; thousands of
men may be hired as soldiers or camp followers
out of her teeming millions. All such con-
tributions will be from a helpless They
cannot raise the moral status of Britain.
The next question for consideration is that of
providmg for internal disorder and external
invasion. The raising of private armies will be
worse than useless. It will never be allowed.
No Power, whether foreign or swadeshi, can
tolerate private armies. Those, therefore, who
believe in the necessity of India having armed
forces will be driven sooner or later to enlist
themselves under the British banner. It is the
logical outcome of the belief. The Wor kin g
Committee have taken the decision on the point.
If it is to abide, I have little doubt that they
will presently have to advise Congressmen to
enlist in the usual way. That would inean an
end to the slogan of immediate Independence
and an end also to non-violence of the true
brand. I shall hope to the last that, for the
sake of themselves, India, aye Britain herself, and
humanity. Congressmen will resolutely decline to
have anything to do with the use of arms for
any of the two purposes. I feel strongly that
the future of humanity lies in the hands of the
Congress. May God give wisdom and courage
to Congressmen to take the right step.
The offer of enlarging the Viceroy’s Council
is on the tapis. The Congress cannot coun-
tenance it, so long as it swears by Independence
and non-violence. But if it sidetracks them, it
will be logically driven to reconstructing Con-
gress ministries in the Provinces. This means
the Congress becoming a vital part of the war
machine. The Government of India has no other
occupation but that of preparing India for
defending Britain. It is an illusion to talk of
preparing India for self-defence. No Power has
eyes on India except as a British possession. As
such she is a rich prize. Is not India the bright-
est jewel in the British Crown ? But I own that,
if India is to learn the trade of war, she can
now have her apprenticeship to the extent that
the British masters will allow.
The Congress has to make its choice. The
temptation is irresistible. Congressmen can
again become Cabinet Ministers. They may also
be Ministers or Members at the Centre. They
will have an insight into the war machine.
They will watch from inside ( again to the
extent allowed ) the Englishman at work when
engaged in a life and death struggle. They will
have to raise crores of rupees and dispose of
them in the war effort. If I have my way, I
would have the Congress to resist the irresist-
ible temptation and not grudge those who
believe in the accepted method filling all these
posts. There will be Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs,
Christians, Parsis and others taking up these
posts as they have done before now. They too
arc our countrymen. W^e must give them
credit for good faith. Let us who believe in
Independence and the only way to attain it,
hold fast to the objective and the means. I can
see much good coming out of this division of
functions. For the Congress to merge itself intO'
the 'stereotyped method would be a flisa stPT of
the first magnitude. If, on the other hand, the
Congress sticks to its colours, it is sure to
fight its way to its goal even before the war is
over, provided that the fight is purely, truly
and demonstrably non-violent.
New Delhi, 1-7-40
July 6, 1940 ]
HARIJAIT
189
A VALID COMPLAINT
CBy M. K. Gandhi y
A correspondent sends me a forcible letter in
•which he argues that, though I expect great
■things from my countrymen, I write only for
Harijan which is edited in English, and utterly
neglect its Hindustani and Gujarati editions.
Both Harijanhandhu ( Gujarati ) and Harijan-
sevak ( Hindustani ) have only translations of the
writings in Harijan. I must plead guilty to the
charge. My excuse for writing in English has
been that I had to address English-educated
India who could understand neither Gujarati nor
my faulty Hindustani, and also the ever-growing
number of Western readers. I hope that the
excuse will be deemed valid. But it seems to
me that the time has come for me to confine
my writings, as far as possible, exclusively to
Gujarati and occasionally to Hindustani. The
reason is simple and, I hope, convincing. I have
before me the most difficult task of reaching
the message of the non-violence of the strong
to the masses. They will not understand the
fineness of the Working Committee’s decision.
Already I have warnings that they will be
confused. They will believe that the Congress
has given up non-violence and wants them
also to do likewise. Then they would say, “ But
the Mahatma still believes in it. In the midst
of these differences whose word are we to
follow?” If I lose the masses, the mass experi-
ment in non-violence must be voted down as
failure. My faith would be still as strong as
•ever. But my failure will be equally clear. In
such trying circumstances I must not rely upon
the translations of my writings to carry . my
message to the masses. I must use the most
effective means available. Naturally, therefore, I
must speak at least to the Gujaratis in their
own language which is also mine. Moreover
Gujarati lends itself to correct translation in
any northern language much more easily than
English.
But the decisive reason for the proposed
■change is that when I write in English the
English-speaking public is in view. I would not
have exactly the same message for them as I
would have for the masses. Past experience, too,
points in favour of the change. When I began to
edit Indian Opinion in South Africa, most of the
Indians there were almost illiterate, I wrote the
language they could understand. When the weekly
Indian Opinion reached them, for every twenty
Indians they had one reader who was of course
a volunteer. They listened to and devoured every
word of what appeared in Indian Opinion. In it
there was no padding, no essays given to the
readers. I used to reason out for them their diffi-
culties. I had no time to discuss theories. They
had weekly instructions as to what they were to
do. I have no doubt that Indian Opinion had a
vital part to play in moulding and guiding the
^atyagrahis. Had I spoken to them through the
English medium, I should have failed. I should
never have been able to feel one with them,
if I had spoken to them in English when I
knew that I could speak to a large section of
them through their own tongue. If, therefore,
I hope, as I do, to carry even a section of the
masses with me, I must at least speak to them
through the tongue they and I understand.
So the English-knowing readers should not be
surprised if one fine day they get my writings in
Harijan in translated form. Happily I have very
able assistance in this direction. Mahadev Desai
and Pyarelal have often translated my Gujarati
or Hindustani writings. English-knowing readers
should know that they have my Experiments with
Truth and History of Satya£raha in South Africa
in translation. So is Hind Swaraj, and several
other writings of mine. After all, however, in the
matter of non-violence I must rely most upon
my thought to carry my message to the farthest
limits of the universe. All thought does not
possess the same potency. Only thought crystal-
lised by a pure life and charged with prayerful
concentration has potency. The purer the life,
the greater the concentration, the brighter the
faith in that Unseen Power from whom all
things are, the greater the potency of thought.
If I had the purity, the concentration and the
faith I want, I know that I would do all my
work without speech or writing, or with the
least use of either, and the power the thought
would then carry would be irresistible. That is
the power which every human being has to
aspire to and with due effort can attain. The
voice of Silence has never been denied.
New Delhi, 1-7-40
ON THE ROAD TO SIMLA
On the morning of Thursday last, in soaking
wet weather Gandhiji set out with his small
entourage from his mud cottage at Sevagram
for Simla, in response to the Viceregal invitation.
It had been pouring the whole of the previous
day and during the night, turning the road
into a strip of soft, pappy mass, so much so
that, till the last moment almost, it was a
question whether it would be possible to get
any transport to convey the travelling kit of
the party to the railway station. Apart from
these difficulties and considerations of his health
which can ill bear exposure to wind and weather,
Gandhiji, as is well known, is as a rule these
days extremely loath to absent himself from
Sevagram even for a short time. Nevertheless,
he gladly responded to the Viceregal invitation,
as part of his sadhana for 'ahimsa. He knew he
was going there without any expectations. The
railway journey was fatiguing to a degree, so
that when he boarded the car at Kalka he was
ready to doze off again and “reel off a few
score miles of sleep ”, as he put it.
Before the car had proceeded for a couple of
furlongs, however, a trifling incident happened
which converted the journey into one of those
occasions which bum themselves upon you for
HAEIJAN
1-90
life. Without any premeditation or forethought
I casually dropped , a remark which was of the
nature of a grievance against a . colleague. The
grievance was well-founded and merited redress,
but I proceeded to generalise upon it, and that
brought down the avalanche : “ You have indulg-
ed in an unpardonable generalisation. A seeker
after truth cannot afford to do that,” remons-
trated Gandhiji. “ Darwin for the greater part of
his book Origin of the Species has simply massed
fact upon fact without any theorising, and only
towards the end has formulated his conclusion
which, because of the sheer weight of Testimony
behind it, becomes almost irresistible. Yet I have
criticised even Darwin’s generalisation as being
unwarranted. Science tells us that a proposition
may hold good in nine hundred ninetynine
cases and yet fail in the thousandth case and
thus be rendered untenable as a universal
statement. That is why in Jain philosophy so
much stress is laid on Syadvad. A proposition
must not only be able to satisfy the analytical
test, but must also be proved conversely by
synthesis before its universal validity can be
established. And you have dared to build a sweep-
ing indictment on the strength of a single fact.”
I was forced to admit that my generalisation
was unscientific and therefore unwarranted. But
in my heart of hearts I was sorry only for my
indiscretion. I felt I had intrinsically a strong
case, which I could easily make, good on
another occasion and under better auspices.
Besides, I did not want to rob Gandhiji of his
much-needed sleep by prolonging the discussion.
I kept mum. But I was not destined to enjoy
my self-complaisance for long. Gandhiji continued;
“ Your criticism of — is in a way true and yet
it is not wholly true. It savours of lack of
charity. It takes no count of .the difficulties
incident upon one’s birth and upbringing. It
is up to those who have gathered round me
in quest of a common ideal to make due allow-
ance for the temperamental shortcomings of one
another and strive to break down prejudices
by the exercise of forbearance, and magnanimity
and through loving service.”
I felt stung to the quick. I had, with good
reason, held myself to be the aggrieve'd party,
and here tables were being turned upon me. I
protested: You know the utter contempt in
which this friend holds me, the campaign of
calumny to which I have been subjected. Yet
I have never retaliated. I have never given any
cause' for complaint. I have even consciously
striven — not without some success — to be-
friend him and make myself agreeable to him.
And yet—.” “I know all that,” interrupted
Gandhiji. “ I ^ow your grievance which is
'^^ll"founded. You do not know the flattening
out I gave — for the wrong done to you, and I
know too your striving to be friendly of which
I have myself been witness. My complaint is not
that your conduct was not correct; the question is
whether there was overflowing love behind it.
[ July 6 , 1940
You refer to the contempt you have experien-
ced. Was there not hauteur behind what you
have described as your ‘ correct conduct’, a
sort of ‘ superior person ’ attitude that regards
the opponent as beneath contempt or even retail*
ation ? If you search within yourself, you will
find that the consciousness that has filled you
all along has been that of the v/rong you have
suffered, not that of pity for or sympathy with
the wrong-doer who in his turn is a victim of
circumstances- — is not unaware of his defects;
I know he has striven too to overcome them.
But one’s innate nature is not so easily over-
come. The momentum of the past often proves
too strong for us. Such cases deserve our pity,
not anger. It is only thus that I am today
able to extend my sympathies to the Princes.
Although I have often criticised them unsparingly,
there is in me that basic understanding of their
position, and my heart goes out to them. I
fancy that they too realize that in me they have
a friend. You talk of contempt, but do not
you see that, if your heart were flowing with
ahimsa, contempt won’t touch you ? There was
hardly an individual held in such contempt
among certain circles as the late Deciiabandhu
Andrews. Yet he seemed hardly to be aware of
it, and acted towards those who despitcfully
used him, with an ease and naturalness that
broke down all barriers and made him irresistible.
If there were no contempt or hatred in question,
where could be the occasion for the exercise of
ahimsa ?
“ I admit it is my weakness,” I fumbled out,
“ that has prevented me from wooing more
effectively,” I am afraid it is one's own sense
of inferiority which makes one so sensitive to
the feeling of contempt. There have been occa-
sions when I had an insight into the spiritual
isolation and forlornness, the inner starvation
and dreariness of -y. On these occasions I was
so deeply moved that I went out of my way
to serve -and befriend him, feeling neither em-
barrassment, nor even my habitual awkwardness.-
The fear of contempt did not deter me, and
my wooing was successful.” To Gandhiji this was
a case of love casting out fear. “When wc are
afraid,” he tells xis, “‘it is our ahimsa that is at
fault. Love and weakness cannot co-exist.”
Gandhiji had retired within himself. He intros-
pectively resumed: ‘‘In the ultimate analysis.
I feel that it is my ahimsa that is at fault.
Otherwise, why should not my word go straight
home as soon as uttered, why should there be
discord and disharmony about me in my little
world in Sevagram ? If my experiment here
were successful and I could find a solution for
the little problems that confront me here, I
am sure the same formula would provide me a
solution for the bigger issues that today face us
in the country. That is why I am so reluctant
to leave Sevagram. It is my laboratory for
satyagraha. It is there that I expect to discover
the key to India’s independence, not in Simla.
July 6, 1940 ]
HAEIJA^?
191
or New Delhi. I sometimes feel like taking
shelter in flight, not to seek cloistered peace,
hut in the stillness of utter isolation to know
myself, to see where I stand, to catch more
effectively the faint whispering of the ‘ still
small voice within’. Then alone my experiment
in ahimsa would be complete. ”
I felt smitten into a sense of my utter
unworthiness to be associated with the great
experiment in which Gandhiji is engaged. With
such poor instruments to vrork with, is it any
wonder that satyagraha has not forged farther
ahead than it has today? I felt utterly miserable.
Automatically the episode of . the contrite
Ancient Mariner came back to my mind :
I to me did pray:
Let me, be awake, O Lord.
Or let me sleep always.
New Delhi, 1-7-40 * Pyarelal
ABOUT WORKING COMMITTEE’S DECISION
( Continued from p. 181 )
us would be to ask the British to lay down their
arms. What would a handful of Prussians avail in
face of such a strong world sentiment ? It is ideas,
not arms, that rule the world. But before all this
can be achieved we have to display the non-violence
of the strong, of the true satyagrahi.
To regard the non- cooperation movement as merely
a device for winning what we cannot by brute might, is
to degrade the whole significance of satyagraha. If it were
that and no more, we should be deserving only of
contempt, and be no better than those beggars v/ho
would nat move from our door-steps until we have
given them alms. There is a curious fallacy in ask-
ing the* Mahatma to start his movement, while dis-
crediting his ideology. Of course, it is possible to
contend that his success has been in spite of his
ideology : but I have not seen it proved. Besides,
you should read Smuts on the Mahatma. It is at
the least a presumption to seek to be wiser than the
Mahatma about his own weapon. And then consider
the consequences of discrediting the Mahatma’s ideo-
logy. It inevitably follows that violence is ineradic-
able from the nature of things, that wars must
■continue (and they will get more and more terrible
until humanity will have consumed itself iu one
gigantic holocaust, and then Nature, having despaired
of the Homo Sapiens t will get on to the next
species to carry on her business of evolution ), and
that — awful conclusion ! — selfishness is the only law
to follow. Why then blame the British, why blame
the Germans or Italians or Capitalism or any of the
numerous objects we vent our spleen upon ? You
may say, it may all be very depressing but none
the less inevitable. My answer is simple. Consider a
beautiful poem or a beautiful song or a beautiful
painting, consider the way a forest subsists, consider
the growth of man’s mind — would any of them be
possible without the harmony of the parts 1 Biology
tells us that gigantic beasts have perished for want
of flexibility in them, whereas small animals, with
greater adaptability, have not only survived, but
progressed. Man himself is an example. What is
civilization but the art of living together harmo-
niously ? He has shown wonderful adaptability,
but not enough. Keeping his eye fixed on momentary
ends, compelling themselves upon his attention by the
necessity of biological evolution, he has not bothered
■much about the means, so that the virus has accu-
mulated and, now finally when he has the means of
realizing the Utopia of his dreams, he finds that his^
‘dreams have gone all awry.
The vast difference in the situation nov/ from that
in former times must not be lost sight of. Then
a battle had at least the value of serving as a release
for the harmful passions of a nation, and although
feelings between one nation and another were strained
thereby, each single nation lived at ease within itself.
And as that served them very well, means of com^
munication being few and contacts difficult, war was
not too much of an evil. Circumstances have entire-
ly changed nov^r. The world is a nation in itself ;
and we have to extend the idea of co-operation from
the nation to the v^rorld. Besides there is to be taken
into consideration the character of a modern war.
It is not only that feelings of antagonism are
generated between the peoples of one nation and
another, but that no one who has been through the
infernal orgy of a war can ever be the same man
again. He becomes spiritually deaf, if not physically
as well, for the rest of -his life. The leaders suffer
still more terribly. Anyone who has the misfortune
to plot cool-headedly the slaughter of millions day
after day cannot preserve his humanity. Blood-baths
don't bring any freshness: they only distract men’s
wits and unfit them for rational exercise.
You say the Mahatma is a sort of misfit in the
present-day world. I, on the other hand, believe this
is the appropriate moment for him and for India.
Very likely the world today is in the throes of a
new spiritual birth and what we see is but the
growing pains. The utmost confusion prevails before an
act of creation : out of chaos is a dancing star born. But
faith alone is not enough. A miscarriage has to be
avoided. The artist has to wage a terrible struggle
with his mental chaos before the outlines of the
work of art begin to manifest themselves. However,
•when that is accomplished, a curious feeling of relief
and innocency fills one. Similarly we may find the
influence of Gandhi ( I mean of all Gandhi stands for )
secretly permeating and, when things are at their
worst, a sudden illumination taking possession of
humanity, bringing home the realization that it was
greater than it knew. But the work of consolida-
tion will remain. The new infant will have to be
nourished to youth and manhood, India has it in
her power to set the world an object-lesson. It will
be sheer cowardice for us to arm ourselves in self-
defence. Let us not fail when it comes to the
scratch. That will be the supreme demand made
upon our courage. We have often blamed other
nations for not resorting to unilateral disarmament.
Let it not be said of us that we should have done
the same in their position. If we willingly and
whole-heartedly and with perfect fearlessness decide
not to make any defensive preparations, we shall have
negotiated the last stile in the way of our goal of
satyagraha. We shall have come into our own. Our
destiny will then be unmistakable. But this would
come about only by virtue of that wholesale change
of mentality that the Mahatma’s constructive pro-
gramme is calculated to produce.*’
New Delhi, 1-7-40
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xaa
HAKIJAN
NON-VIOLENCE AND PANIC
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The following from a correspondent s letter
will be read with interest and perhaps profit :
“ In the last non-cooperation movement I suspended
my practice and renewed it in the end of the year
1925. Now I am only a four anna member of the
Congress, a practising lawyer at the bar, and a
habitual wearer of khadi. Since the Allies have begun
to suffer reverses there is a panic in the country.
The people have become afraid of the consequences
of the failure of the British. They apprehend civil
war, communal riots, looting, arson, plunder and
goondaism. You are the apostle of non-violence and
have been preaching it for the last twenty years,
if not more. So far as I can understand from your
writings you preach non-violence of the strong, non-
violence which is the outcome of love for all and
even for your enemy and aggressor. According to
you, if I have understood right, we should try to be
non-violent to the enemy even when we have got
the power to injure him.
But, so far as the actual effect of your teaching
is concerned, I find that in the majority of your
followers this conception of non-violence is wanting.
They are non-violent because they believe that, if
they will use violence to fight a wrong-doer, they
will provoke him with the result that he will use
greater violence which they may be unable to stand.
This seems to be the background of their non-violence
which is clearly an outcome of fear and cowardice,
and not of love. For, the idea behind is to save
one’s life and not to risk it for a higher cause. I
may give one actual instance : During the non-
co-operation days of 1921 there was a gentleman who
is dead now. He was arrested and imprisoned under
the Criminal Law Amendment Act. He was a
peace-loving citizen and never political-minded. I did
not expect that he would ever risk his liberty for
politics. I was surprised to find him in jail. I
asked him how he dared to court imprisonment. He
replied that he was afraid of greater harm outside
the jail. His impression was that the political agita-
tion would lead to riots and disturbances everywhere,
and he was sure that the Government would resort
to firing. He thought that he would be safe inside
the jail and escape death. 1 do not think this was
ever your intention in asking people to court
imprisonment. In my opinion, if one is non-violent on
account of any weakness in him, he would never
face an aggressor.
In these days of panic and general nervousness I
strongly believe that a few articles from your pen
will dispel all fears from our young men and infuse
a spirit in them which will enable them to resist
the goonda element in the society. One article of
this nature has already appeared in the last issue
of Harijan. But I suggest that a series is necessary
to bring courage and bravery to those who are
physically quite fit but are panic-stricken.. In my
opinion, all fears, all nervousness and panic will dis-
appear in case you are kind enough to spare a few
[ July 6, 1940
lines in Harijan on this subject every week. Our
nervousness is encouraging the goondas amongst us.
The moment it disappears, the goondas and bullies-
of our society will also disappear.”
The letter gives a correct picture of the
mentality of the average Congressman. The non-
violence which it describes can never take us
to our goal. It will have served us well, if we
use it as a stepping-stone to the true non-
violence of the strong — non-violence which
will stand alone defying the combined might of.
the mightiest powers of the earth. Let all
Congressmen ask themselves whether they have
the courage to take up non-violence of the
strong. Nothing is needed to reach that much-
to-be-desired state beyond the will to risk
all for the sake of one’s cause. The non-
violence of the person who went to jail to
avoid a worse fate harmed him and disgraced
the cause which he used as a shelter to escape
death. Swaraj-makers are made of sterner stuff.
And, surely, it is simple enough to see that, if
we can bravely face death without killing or
even wishing to kill, we have achieved the
ability to win and keep Swaraj.
My correspondent asks me to write a series
of articles in condemnation of panic. Nothing that
I can write will alone prevent panic. What
is required is example more than precept..
I have pointed out that the city- dwellers who
are reported to have given way to panic were
never non-violent even when they went to jail.
Our city-dwellers made a handsome contribution
as jail-goers during the civil resistance campaigns
launched by the Congress. They should now, by
resolutely sticking to their posts, steel the hearts
of the timid against the temptation to flee from
fancied or real danger. It is foolish to think
that by fleeing one can trick the dread god of
death. Let us treat him as a beneficent angel
rather than as a dread god. We must face and
welcome him whenever he comes. My host,
Sheth Ghanshyamdas Birla, tells me that not
many months ago a whole mercantile family
which bad converted paper into gold met death
in a railway accident which overtook the train
that was carrying the family and its precious
gold. Verily that gold was a death trap. Let
us not die before the inevitable hour comes
as it must come to every one of us, war or
no war.
New Delhi, 1-7-40
CONTENTS
To Every Briton ... M.
About Working Committee’s
Decision ... M,
Some Vital Questions ... M.
A Valid Complaint ... M.
On the Road to Simla
Non-violence and Panic ... M.
Page
K. Gandhi 185
K. Gandhi 186
K. Gandhi 188
K. Gandhi 189
Pyardal 189
K. Gandhi 192
Feinted and Published by Vithal Hati Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
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Editea ; MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. Vm. No. 22 ] POONA — SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1940 [ TWO ANNAS
‘ COPYRIGHT ’
It is strange that what I would not do in
response to' the advice of a correspondent I
have to do almost immediately after the refusal
tho’Jigh, I feel, for a very cogent reason. Since
my main articles will henceforth be written in
Gujarati, I would not like their unauthorised
translations appearing in the Press. I have
s'jffered much from mistranslations when I used
to write profusely in Gujarati and had no
time myself to produce simultaneous English
translations. I have arranged this time for such
translation in English and Hindustani. I would
therefore ask editors and publishers kindly to
regard English and Hindustani translation rights
as reserved. I have no doubt that my request
will be respected.
On the train to Wardha, 8-7-40 M. K. G.
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A Muslim’s Dilemma
Q. We Muslims believe that the Prophet’s
life was wholly directed by God and truly non-
violent, though not in your sense of the term.
He never waged an offensive war, and he had
the tenderest regard for the feeling of others,
but when he was driven to a defensive war he
drew his sword for a holy war, and he permits
the use of the sword under conditions he has
laid down. But your non-violence is different.
You prescribe it under all conditions and cir^
cumstances. I do not think the Prophet would
permit this. Whom are we to follow — you
or the Prophet ? If we follow you, we cease to
be Muslims. If we follow the Prophet, we cannot
join the Congress with its creed of extreme
non-violence. Will you solve this dilemma?
A. I can only answer that, since you notice
the difference, you should unhesitatingly follow
the Prophet, not me. Only I would like to say
that I claim to have studied the life of the
Prophet and the Quran as a detached student
of religions. And I have come to the conclu-
sion that the teaching of the Quran is essen-
tially in favour of non-violence. Non-violence is
better than violence, it is said in the Quran.
Non-violence is enjoined as a duty; violence ib
permitted as a necessity. I must refuse to sit i^
judgment on what the Prophet did. I must
base my conduct on what the great teachers
of the earth said, not on • what they did. Pro-
phethood "Came not from the wielding of the
sword, it came from years of wrestling with
God to know the truth. Erase these precious
years of the great life, and you will have robbed
the Prophet of his prophethood. It is these
years of his life which made Muhammad a pro-
phet. A prophet’s life, after he is acknowledged
as one, cannot be our guide. Only prophets
can weigh the works of prophets. If a civilian
can judge the merits of a soldier, a layman of
a scientist, an ordinary man may judge a prophet,
much less imitate him. If I handled a motor
car, I should surely run it and me into the
danger zone and probably into the jaws of
death. How much more dangerous would it be
then for me to imitate a prophet! When the
Prophet was asked why, if he could fast more
than the prescribed times, the companions also
could not, he promptly replied : “ God gives me
spiritual food which satisfies even the bodily
wants; for you He has ordained the Ramdan.
You may not copy me.” I quote from memory.
Spare the Rod
Q, I am a teacher. I try to follow the
principle of non-violence in dealing with my
schoolboys and my own children. I am success-
ful to a great extent in case of the school
children, excepting a bully whom I would send
to the Head Master. But in case of my own
children I often feel like beating, though I
successfully restrain myself. I find that these
are readily obedient to my uncle who, unlike
me, believes in the old saying ‘Spare the rod,
spoil the child.’ What should' I do with my
own children? How should a non-violent Head
Master deal with a bully ?
A. I am quite clear that you must not
inflict corporal or other punishment’ on your
children or pupils. You can punish yourself, if
you like and are qualified, in order to melt
your children’s or pupils’ hearts. Many mothers
are known to have corrected their children in
this manner. I have on many occasions. I had
to deal with wild boys in South Africa,
Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Parsis. With
one exception, I do not remember ever having
punished a single boy. The non-violent method
invariably succeeded. When a bond is established
between a teacher and his pupils, the latter will
generally yield before' their teacher’s suffering for
their sake. In [ the case of your ‘ bully ’, if he
has no respect for you; you can non-cooperate
with him by sending him away - from your school.
Non-violence does not compel you to keep in
your school a student who does not carry out
disciplinary rules.
194
HAEIJAN
[ July 13, 1940
The Setmon on fche Mount
Q. You often refer to the Sermon on the
Mount. Do you believe in the verse: "If any
man will take away thy coat, let him have thy
cloak also ” 7 Does it not follow from the princi-
ple of non-violence ? If so, then do you advise
the weak and poor tenant of a village to submit
gladly to the violent encroachment of the
zamindar on his ‘ abadi land * or tenancy rights,
which so often occurs in a village these
days?
A. Yes, I would unhesitatingly advise tenants
to evacuate the land belonging to a tyrant. That
would be like giving your cloak also when only
the coat is demanded. To take what is required
may be profitable; to have more given to you
is highly likely to be a burden. To overload a
stomach is to court slow death. A zamindar
wants his rent, he does not want his land. It
would be a burden on him when he does not
want it. When you give more to a robber than
he needs, you spring a surprise on him, you
give him a shock although agreeable. He has
not been used to it. Historical instances are on
record to show that such non-violent conduct
has produced a wholesome eiffect upon evil-doers.
These acts cannot be done mechanically; they
must come out of conviction and love or pity
for the other man. Nor need you work out all
the apparent implications of my answer. If you
do, you will come across blind alleys. Suffice it
to say that in the verse quoted by you Jesus
put in a picturesque and telling manner the
great doctrine of non-violent non-cooperation.
Your non-cooperation with your opponent is
violent when you give a blow for a blow, and is
ineffective in the long run. Your non-coopera-
tion is non-violent when you give your opponent
all in the place of just what he needs. You
have disarmed him once for all by your appa-
rent co-operation, which in effect is complete
non-cooperation. A girl, who rather than give
her living body to a would-be ravisher presents
him with her corpse, confounds him and dies a
heroine’s death. Hers is a stout heart in a
frail body.
Compulsory Prayer
Q. I am a worker in the Rajasthan branch
of the A, 1. S. A. I believe in prayer but some
of my colleagues do not. Still they have got to
join in prayer under the rules of the Sanstha.
They are afraid that, if they refuse, they would
lose their job. My view is that the Sanstha
pays wages to its workers for their eight hours'
work. What right has it to insist upon includ-
ing compulsory participation in prayer by their
workers into the bargain?
A. There can be no such thing as compulsory
prayer. A prayer to be prayer must be voluntary.
But nowadays people entertain curious ideas
about compulsion. Thus, if the rules of your
institution require every inmate — paid or unpaid
— to attend common prayer, in my opinion you
are bound to attend it as you are to attend to
your other duties. Your joining the institution
was a voluntary act. You knew or ought to
have known -its rules. Therefore your attendance
at prayer I would regard as a voluntary act,
even as I would treat your other work under
the contract. If you joined the institution merely
because of the wages it offered, you should have
made it clear to the manager that you could
not attend prayer. If in spite of your objection
you entered the institution without stating your
objection, you did a wrong thing for which
you should make expiation. This can be done
in two ways — by joining the prayer with your
heart in it, or by resigning and paying
such compensation as may be necessary for the
loss caused by your sudden resignation. Every-
one joining an institution owes it to obey the
rules framed by the management from time to
time. When any new rule is found irksome, it
is open to the objector to leave the institution
in accordance with the provisions made for
resignation. But he may not disobey them
whilst he is in it.
New Delhi, 1-7-40
OCCASIONAL NOTES
An American Visitor
An American visitor, describing herself as
representative of various women’s associations and
as a pacifist, came to Sevagram the other day
in pouring rain and windy weather. She had
not come by appointment, but the trouble she
had taken entitled her to some time with
Gandhiji. She had just three or four questions
to ask, and she meant business.
"How can I best prepare in India to help in
America towards a better understanding between
Indians and Americans ? " was her first question.
The next one was : " How could I contribute
towards this end in America?"
Gandhiji’s answer covered both the questions:
"One has to show in one's life one’s country’s
best traits, and that is how one can bring another
country to a better understanding of one’s own.
If you do not show the best in you whilst you
are here, you make America liable to be mis-
understood; and the same thing I would say
about Indians in America. If one wants to
interpret one country to another, he or she
has to discover the best in that country and
place it before the other country. If you,
for instance, see nothing good in the life here,
then you certainly are not the best person to
interpret India to America. In America you
find a Miss Mayo bringing out all the filth
from the Indian gutters. You will contradict
her, and as against one calumny uttered by a
hasty or a paid or an interested observer you
will adduce many testimonies gathered out of a
sympathetic understanding and knock the bottom
out of that calumny."
“What can pacifist Americans do to help the
world situation ? "
July 13, 1940 ]
HAKIJAN
195
“It is a difficult question. If you mean paci-
fist Americans in India, they can do precious
little. But in America they should, I suppose,
be able to do a great deal. But it is a question
really outside my depth, and I must not say
anything more about it.”
“I do a lot of writing and speaking, especially
among women. Have you any message to give
to American women ? ”
“ Not as a message. I can throw out a sugges-
tion and, if it appeals to you, you can develop it.
Woman can play a most important part in the
work of pacifism. She should refuse to be swept
off her feet and to imitate man’s language and
refuse to allow herself and hers to be identi-
fied with anything connected with war. For she
must know that she can represent peace more
than war. She is made for the demonstration
and exhibition of that silent force which is
not less effective because it is silent, but the
more effective because it is silent. ”
Princes and the Present Crisis
A few friends, who came from the Princes’
India, drew a lurid picture of the state of
things there — the panic and the insecurity and
the impending anarchy. What are the Princes
to do?
Briefly put Gandhiji’s answer was: “They
should cease to be Princes and become servants
of the people.” He developed the answer in the
course of his conversation:
“They will have to descend from their pede-
stal and seek the co-operation of their people.
If they do so, they need not use force at all
to put down the forces of disorder. The
Congress does not want to do away with the
Princes, and they can seek its co-operation in
bringing about peace and contentment in their
States.
“ They will have to be genuine servants of
the people. When they do so, no one will think
of eliminating them. If they are the servants
and the people are the masters, why should the
masters do away with the servants? You say
there are a number of smaller Princes today
who are anxious to make up with the Congress,
If they are, what prevents them from doing the
most elementary things ? ”
“ They, ” said the interviewers, “ want to do
certain things, but they are on the one hand
afraid of the Paramount Power and on the other
afraid of the people. Some kind of fear seems
to have seized them that the people will want
to pay off old scores. ”
“ Both their fears are groundless. If they
will do justice, I can scarcely think of the
people wanting to pay off old scores. Our
people are not of a revengeful nature. Is the
ruler of Aundh afraid of any rebellion in his
State ? He is not, for whom will they rebel
against when they know that he has divested
himself of practically all power ? If they want to
rebel, I think he is capable of saying to them,
‘Come and take charge of my palace, I shall
be content to go and stay among the poorest
of you.* Appasaheb, the son of the Chief of
Aundh, is slaving away for the people as no
servant of the State does.
“ But the fact is that the people have to be
convinced of their hona fides. Let them do two
things. One is that they have to purify their
lives and reduce themselves to utter simplicity.
The fabulous amounts they spend on themselves
are unconscionable. I cannot understand how they
can have the heart to squander the people’s
money in riotous living, when thousands of their
people cannot get a square meal a day. Why
should they not be content with two or three
hundred rupees a month? But my point is this.
Let them take what the people will give them.
Their privy purse must be votable. No reforms
and no budget can have any value unless the
people have the fullest right to say how much
their ruler will take for himself. A new age
has already begun, and no ruler can conceivably
be tolerated whose life does not correspond
largely with the life of his people and who does
not identify himself with them.
“ That is one thing. The other thing is that
their judiciary will have to be above board and
therefore independent of them, I cannot say
today with confidence that in any State the
judiciary is really independent. And there must
be complete civil liberty.
“ These, then, are the first steps in the way
of reform. Their fear of the Paramount Power is
groundless. That Power dare not openly say or
do anything to interfere with bona fide reforms.
Wherever they have interfered they have made
some flaw in the particular Prince’s character
an excuse. The deduction is that Princes should
be, like Caesar’s wife, above suspicion. As
for the Congress, let them know that it is ever
ready to come to an understanding with them.
The Congress is essentially a non-violent organi-
sation. Let the Princes voluntarily go under
the authority of their people and the Congress
will befriend them. If they do not do so, there
are breakers ahead. The Congress, let me
repeat, is not out to destroy the Princes, unless
it be that they do not mend their ways and
destroy themselves. Even if there is one Prince
who will be content to be the servant of the
people, the Congress will stand by him.”
On the train to Simla, 27-6-40 M. D.
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196 HARIJAN [ JULY 13, 1940
WHAT LSD TO THE DECISION
A Historical Retrospect: 14 Years
Gandhiji’s decision to be responsible no longer
to guide the deliberations and policy of the
Congress may have come upon the members of
the Working Committee and upon the country
with a certain amount of suddenness. But it
was the natural conclusion of a series of events
since 1934 — or may I say since 1919 ? For his
warning to the people first came to be uttered
after the mob violence in Nadiad and Ahmed-
abad. He shocked his followers and amused his
critics by proclaiming that in placing the remedy
of civil disobedience in the hands of people
who had not learnt the discipline to listen and
to obey he had been guilty of a Himalayan
blunder. Then came Chauri Chaura and the
momentous Bardoli decision suspending satyagraha
indefinitely. This gave the followers an even
greater shock than that given by the “Hima-
layan blunder". But Gandhiji was adamant.
He knew that the country would realise the
wisdom of the decision in course of time, and
that it would be able to prepare itself for
another struggle. It took the country six or
seven years — years punctuated by communal
rioting and internecine strife — to develop non-
violent strength to hurl defiance against the
Government. We had learnt the virtue of non-
violence, but it had with most of us a limited
meaning and content. And yet it carried us
through to a certain amount of success. Then
came more organised repression on behalf of the
Government, our limited non-violence proved a
poor match for it, and with that came the third
milestone on the march to non-violence I
mean- the Patna decision of 1934 suspending civil
disobedience and confining it only to himself.
Throughout this period of fourteen years he
belonged to the Congress, he was a member
of it, he attended meetings of the A. I. C. C.
and of the Working Committee, and actively
participated in the deliberations. But the Patna
decision had set him thinking. Always anxious
to lay the blame principally - on himself, he had
begun to discover that the arrest in the growth
of the Congress and the corruption in its ranks
was due to the fact that the Congress “had
degenerated into an organisation dominated by
one personality, and that in it®there was no
free play of reason.” There were vital differences
between him and the Congressmen, but his
personality, he felt, had acted like an incubus on
them and prevented their self-expression. That
was unconsciously encouraging hypocrisy and a
subtle piece of violence. Khadi and the spinn-
ing wheel were there on the Congress programme,
‘‘yet only a few Congressmen have a living faith
in the India-wide potency of the wheel.” And
as for non-violence, as he said in his historic
statement issued in September 1934, “ after four-
teen years of trial it still remains a policy with
the majority of Congressmen, whereas it is a
fundamental creed with me. That Congressmen
do not still regard non-violence as a creed is
no fault of theirs. It is undoubtedly my faulty
presentation, and still more its faulty execution,
that ate responsible for this failure. I have no
consciousness of faulty presentation or execu-
tion, but it is the only possible inference from
the fact that it has not yet become an integral
part of the lives of Congressmen.” We had
paid lip-loyalty to non-violence, and even that
non-violence was not of the strong but of the
weak. “ If we were non-violent through and
through, our non-violence would have been self-
evident. Nor were we able to show to the
terrorists that we had greater faith in our non-
violence than they in their violence.” The argu-
ment led irresistibly to the conclusion that he
should leave the Congress organization as he
was convinced that by being outside he would
serve the Congress and the country better than
by being in it. That was the fourth milestone —
the step to withdraw from the Congress being
solely dictated by the idea of making the
experiment of non-violence in thought, word
and deed more intense. “For this experiment,”
he said, “I need complete detachment and abso-
lute freedom of action. I can only search Him
through non-violence, and in no other way, and
the freedom of my country, as of the world,
fa surely included in the search for truth. I
cannot suspend this search for anything in this
world or another.” The wisdom of the decision,
which was so to say ratified by the Bombay
Congress, was proved by a very simple test. The
amendment suggesting the substitution of the
words “ truthful and non-violent ” for “ peaceful
and legitimate” was that simple test. The amend-
ment was thrown out by the members of the
A. I. C. C., and proved clearly the thinness of
the faith of the bulk of Congressmen in truth
and non-violence.
1934 — 39
He retired from the Congress in October
1934 and threw himself with redoubled zeal
and vigour into the only kind of work that was
an expression of non-violence — revival and
development of village industries, Harijan service,
education through basic crafts, and fixing up
one’s abode in a village which offered in a
nutshell all the problems of an Indian village.
But this retirement was far from giving him
the “complete detachment and absolute freedom”
of action that he was longing for. For three
years he had a certain amount of respite, but
the decision to accept offices, taken by the
Congress on his advice, drew him once again
into active leadership.
Every step, throughout the period of fourteen
or fifteen years, had been for him an experi-
ment in the pursuit of truth and non-violence,
and his advice to the Congress to take up the
burden of office acceptance was another such
experiment. The office acceptance was not in-
tended to work the Act of 1935 anyhenv-,, “in
the prosecution by the Congress of its goal of
JULY 13, 1^40 ]
HAEIJAlf
197
Complete Independence, it is a serious attempt
on the one hand to avoid a bloody revolution
and on the other to avoid mass civil disobedi-
ence -on a scale hitherto not attempted.” He
declined to have any authority over the minis-
ters or to have any power to issue instructions
to them, but “in matters relating to the struggle
for Swaraj through non-violent action, I do
claim special qualifications. For me office accept-
ance has a special meaning even in terms of
the Congress manifesto and resolutions.” The
Congress was not only to replace an alien
Government, but an alien method of governance.
It was to rule, he made it clear in the very
beginning, “ not through the police backed by
the military but through its moral authority
based upon the greatest goodwill of the people.
It will rule not in virtue of authority derived
from a superior armed power but in virtue of
the service of the people whom it seeks to
represent in every one of its actions.”
That was said in August 1937. Since then
every pronouncement of his has been a com-
mentary on the principle of action laid down
in the very beginning. Trouble in the Sholapur
Settlement of “Criminal Tribes” and labour un-
rest in Ahmedabad and Cawnpore gave him the
first occasion to sound a warning. “ Do we really
believe in truth and non-violence, in sustained
work and discipline, in the efiScacy of the four-
fold constructive programme ? If we are not
sure of our own chosen aims, we need not
wonder, if one fine morning we discover that
we had committed a grave blunder in embark-
ing upon office acceptance. My conscience as a
or the prime mover in the direction of office
acceptance is quite clear. I advised it on the
supposition that the Congressmen as a whole
were sound not only on the goal but also on
the truthful and- non-violent means.”
In 1938 came further storm signals, and they
gave Gandhiji the opportunity of making the
Congress position further clearer. The ministers
were to rule by moral authority based on the
greatest goodwill of the people, but what was
the meaning of that goodwill ? The Congress
claimed to represent the whole of India, not only
the so-called Congressmen — to represent meaning
to serve their interests. And in that sense it had
to serve the interests of non- Congressmen even
better than those of Congressmen, if it was to
be true to its creed of non-violence. “It should
represent even those who are hostile to it and
who will even crush it if they can. Not until
we make good that claim shall we be in a
position to displace the British Government and
function as an independent nation.” These words
were uttered two years ago, but it seems as
though they were uttered yesterday. The bulk
of the Muslims and others belong to the non-
Congressmen’s camp. Have we the power — the
non-violent power — to represent them today?
If we have, we can function as an independent
nation in spite of Britain.
But to proceed. The riots in some of the
cities of the U. P. and the steps taken by the
Congress ministry to quell them made Gandhiji
pointedly ask the question: Is Congress non-
violence non-violence of the weak and the
helpless or of the strong and the powerful ?
“ If it is the former, it will never take us to
our goal, and if long practised may even render
us for ever unfit for self-government. If the
Congress non-violence does not come out of
real strength, it would be best and honest for
the Congress to make such a declaration and
make the necessary changes in its behaviour.
To the extent that the Congress ministries have
been obliged to make use of the police and the
military, to that extent in my opinion we must
admit our failure. ”
His soul had already begun to get impatient.
How long would this experiment last, how long
could he continue to give his guidance if it
was ultimately to be futile ? We discover this
impatience of the soul in numerous utterances
of those days. To some co-workers he said : “ I
am ashamed that our ministries had to call to
their aid the police and the military. I am
ashamed that they had to use the langua ge that
they did in reply to the Opposition speeches. I
feel as if the Congress had lost and the British
had won. Why does our non-violence fail on
such occasions? Is it the non-violence of the
weak? Even the goondas should not move us
from our faith and make us say; ‘ We will send
them to the gallows or shoot them down.’ They
too are our countrymen. If they will kill us, we
will allow them to do so. You cannot pit against
organised violence the non-violence of the weak,
but the non-violence which the bravest alone
can exercise. We have, you will say, been
sufficiently non-violent. We were non-violent
during the civil disobedience campaign, we re-
ceived lathi blows and worse. My reply is this :
We did, but not sufficiently. We could not
get Independence at the end of the Dandi
March, as ours was not the unadulterated non-
violence of the bravest.”
The question of external aggression has crop-
ped up just now, but the question of internal
unrest was already there as alive as today. Had
we the strength then to say to the goondas,
“Kill us, we will not kill you”? We had not.
But Gandhiji lived in the hope that we should
have that strength soon. “ Supposing, ” he said
to the Gandhi Seva Sangh people at Delang,
on the 25th of March 1938, “the Viceroy
were to invite the President of the Congress
to meet him and to state the Congress terms,
do you think he would have the strength to
say, ‘The Congress is capable of taking charge
of the administration, the British may . go ’ ? Do
you think we could tell him that we should
be able to do without the police and the military,
that we should be able to come to terms with
the Princes, the Zamindars emd the Mussalmans ?
I am afraid we could not honestly say we
198
HARIJAN
[ July 13, 1940
should easily be able to come to terms with
these. And yet, if we had real non-violence in
us, we should be able to say and do these
things. ”
But if the situation was bad in the middle
of 1938, it is worse in the middle of 1940.
Someone asked Gandhiji the other day : “ You
think we have not the non-violence of the
brave. Well, then, I ask you what would you
do if Independence were to be offered to you
today ? Would you say No ? ”
He said : I would say No. I am giving an
absurd answer to an absurd question. The
question is absurd, for Independence is not
going to be offered, because we are not ready.
If we were ready, it would be there without
our asking it.”
But I am anticipating events. There was im-
patience in the soul, but he was patient with
the people. He was arguing with the ministries,
arguing with the people. “In spite of our having
accepted the volunteer’s pledge for 17 years we
have not developed the irresistible strength that
such acceptance of ahimsa means. The reason is
that we have not troubled, we have not laboured,
to organise such a non-violent army. If we can-
not do so, if we cannot carry out the pledge,
it would be well to reconsider our position.
The tragedy is that the pledge is still in exis-
tence but it exists on paper. If we had on a
sufficient scale such a non-violent army as the
pledge contemplates, we should not have had
these riots; and if there had been, we would
have quelled the riots or immolated ourselves
in the attempt. We have heard of only one
man who met his death. I admire his self-
immolation, But my breast would have swelled
with joy if there had been several Guptas.”
“If,” he said in an article written in that
period, “the Congress non-violence is merely
confined to abstention from causing physical
hurt to the British officials and their dependants,
such non-violence can never bring us Indepen-
dence. It is bound to be worsted in the final
heat. Indeed we shall find it to be worthless,
if not positively harmful, long before the final
heat is reached.” And then this solemn warning :
“If we feel that we shall not be able to dis-
place the British power without a violent strug-
gle, the Congress must say so to the nation and
prepare accordingly. We must do what is being
done all the world over — forbear when we can,
hit when we must. If that is to be our creed or
policy, we have lost precious seventeen years.
But it is never too late to learn and mend.”
The long tours of the Frontier Province that
followed were with the sole purpose of prepar-
ing the promising field for the non-violence of
the brave.
- And it was .not that the ministries wholly
failed.
What’s done we partly may compute
But oft not what’s resisted.
If we were to go minutely into the history
of the work of the Congress ministries in the
eight provinces, we would find that they had
some triumphs of non-violence to their credit.
But God fulfils Himself in many ways. If the
ministries had continued, would they have been
ultimately found wanting ? May it not have
been providential that the situation created by
the war came as a godsend and compelled the
ministries to resign ? Who shall say ? But again
I am anticipating events
A Narrow Escape
The test had nearly come with the inter-
national crisis of September 1938 and the rape of
Czechoslovakia. But the dictated peace at Munich
saved us. The Working Committee sat and
deliberated for some days, but the test in the
shape of war did not come. Gandhiji placed the
implications of non-violence before the Working
Committee in a manner that could not be
mistaken, and the Working Committee was
so unanimously with him that he w'as in a
position to report : “ The Working Committee
had almost come to the conclusion that it would
deny itself the opportunity of striking a bargain
with England, but would make its contribution
to the world peace, to the defence of Czecho-
slovakia and to India’s freedom by declaring
to the world by its action that the way to
peace with honour did not lie through mutual
slaughter of the innocents, but that it lay only
and truly through the practice of organized non-
violence even unto death.”
And in the course of a private conversation
he used words which had a prophetic ring, at
least so far as he himself was concerned:
“ You may rest assured that whatever happens
there will be no surrender by the Government.
For me, even if I stand alone, Lhcrc is no
participation in the ivar even if the Government
should surrender the whole control to the Consiress...
Who would have thought aeroplanes to be a
practical reality fifty years ago? Who would have
imagined in this country, thirty years ago, that
thousands of innocent men, women and children
would be ready smilingly to march to prison ?
The weapon of ahimsa does not need supermen
or superwomen to wield it; beings of common
clay can use and have used it before this with
success. At any rate fifteen members of the
Working Committee did express their readiness
to put their ahimsa to the test. That was more
than I was prepared for.”
But we were not weighed, and our honour
remained intact. At any rate we did not die
before our death. W^hat the Committee would
have done if the crisis had actually come it’ is
difficult to say, but as we have seen it filled
Gandhiji with great hopes.
The Crisis
Exactly a year after this the crisis was upon
us. In that first hour of trial, the Congress
was weighed and not found wanting. It did not
take the Working Committee long to issue its
July 13, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
199
mandate to the Congress ministries to resign.
Gandhiji heaved a sigh of relief. The quescions
that frequently tormented him ceased to trouble
his soul. If the Congress had accepted his advice,
in the initial stage, of offering unconditional
co-operation, or if later the British Government
had acceded to the Congress demand for a de-
claration and the Congress had offered co-opera-
tion in response, the position for Gandhiji would
have been the same. For the co-operation he
had contemplated was moral co-operation and no
other. But who knows? It may be that even
there there has been providential intervention.
If the Working Committee had then taken the
stand — the very honest stand indeed — that it
has taken now,, the difficulty both for the
Committee and for Gandhiji would have been
immense, the situation more delicate. But as
I have said God intervened.
The crisis in the shape of the collapse of one
European nation after another in quick succes-
sion came none too soon. Gandhiji had waited
in patience so long, trying to steer a difficult
course through rocks and breakers. He had
voluntarily accepted the position of the General-
issimo. Was it wise ? The speeches at the
Ramgarh Congress were a mirror of the struggles
of his soul. In private he had implored the
Working Committee and the Maulana to relieve
him of the position. It was simply with a view
to being able to render greater service to the
Congress. “I am putting upon myself an uridue
strain, but as it is not yet a strain on my
conscience, I shall continue to serve you, if you
will insist on my doing so. But it is a terrible
strain, and I would implore you to free me.
I should then pursue my experiment of ahimsa
with absolute freedom.” I am quoting from
memory, but that was the substance of bis
entreaty to the Working Committee. And when
they did not relieve him he poured out the
depths of his soul in the two speeches at
Ramgarh.
But the soul’s impatience continued. Would
the Working Committee face or quail before
the coming storm? Perhaps they were taken by
surprise, but not Gandhiji. The European situation
had for him a lesson that was unmistakably clear.
“ It fills me with the utmost non-violence,” he
said. “ I cannot think of a better thing to offer
to Britain and the defeated nations than non-
violence. It is impossible for me to enthuse over
the deeds of Hitler or of those who fought or
failed to fight him. There is nothing to choose
between the victory of Hitler and the defeat of
others. But I have no doubt in my mind that
even a patched-up non-violent army would take
the wind out of Hitler’s sails. I need not have
his aeroplanes, tanks, etc. He need not destroy
our homes. Our non-violent army would welcome
him, and it may be that he would not dare to
come. I know that this may be a daydream.
But I cannot belie the principle of a lifetime
or wipe out my daydreams of the past twenty
years. If we have not the non-violent strength
of the brave to figh: anarchy arr] aggression, let
us say so and reduce ourselves to a small
minority hoping to develop non-violence of the
strong in the days to come.”
The "Working Committee did some fierce
thinking for days. Those were the da^-s of
heart-searching for them. The logic of Gandhiji's
propositions w’as invincible, but could they go
with those propositions to che people ? Were
they sc thoroughly satLicaiied cliomscb/es with
tne spirit of non-violence of :L- 2 e brave to be
able to carry conviction co the people? Gandhiji
even drafted a resolution for them. But fain
as they would have it, sorely as they felt the
wrench of having to do without his leadership
and his advice, they could not be untrue to
themselves. “ We feel we could not accept your
position with our mind and heart and soul,
and we feel we should not entangle you. ” they
said to him in effect. “ And if that is so, why
should we. accept an untenable position merely
to retain your connection? It would be a fraud
on ourselves and others. ”
But if they could not be untrue to themselves,
neither could Gandhiji be untrue to himself.
He said to them: “I must be left free for my
self-expression. I must be free to pursue my
search, and I know you will believe me when
I say that I go only to be of more effective
service to the Congress, to you and the nation.
Of course I shall be available when you want
me. But I can no longer identify myself with
the direction of your policy and programme.
You will, therefore, try your best to do without
me and have your meetings in future not in
Wardha but elsewhere.”
It was said of old by a Teacher to his dis-
ciples: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if
the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall
it be salted ? ” Had those who for us have
been “the salt of the earth” lost their savour?
One cannot say. But there were these words
also uttered of old: “Ye are the light of the
world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be
hid.” And they may yet be those lights. In the
meanwhile Gandhiji waits and prays in silence.
“■ I should work single-handed in implicit faith
that what I fail to make clear to my country-
men today shall be clear to them some day ’of
itself or, if God wills it, through some apt
word He may put in my mouth, or some apt
work which He may prompt me to do.” These
words were uttered in 1934, but they might have
been uttered only the other day.
New Delhi. 1-7-40
M. D.
Autobiography
The long av/aited one- volume cheaper edition of
Gandhiji*s The Story of My Experiments with Truth
(Autobiography) has now been published by the
Navajivan Press, Kalupur, Ahmedabad. This edition
contains a few photographs which add to the value
of the book. Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4.
200
HARUAN
[ July 13, 1940
’l-jatijan
July 13
1940
“A CRY IN' THE WILDERNESS”?
( By M. K. Gandhi )
H ■<W; % ^ <•
“ With hands upraised I cry :
(But none listens to me)
Dharma* yields both Artha® and Kama®;
Why is that Dharma not observed ? ”
Bapuji Aney on his way back from Simla
paid a flying visit to me at Delhi on Saturday.
Whether we work together or seem to be
working in opposite directions, his love for me
endures, and so he never misses an opportunity
to look in wherever I may be. He expresses
himself freely before me, and often shares with
me a verse or two from his inexhaustible store.
During his Delhi visit he sympathized with me
for my having had to sever my connection with
the Congress, but he really congratulated me.
“They should, I think, leave you in peace,” he
said, “ and let you go your way. I read your
appeal to every Briton. It will fall on deaf
ears. But that does not matter to you. You
cannot help telling them what you feel to be
their Dharma ( Duty ). But it is not strange that
they will not listen to you — seeing that the
Congress itself did not listen to you at the
critical moment. W^hen even sage Vyasa failed
to make himself heard, how should others fare
better ? He had to conclude his great Epic
— Mahabharata — with a verse which reveals
the cry of his soul." With this he cited the
verse I have quoted at the head of this article.
He thereby strengthened my feith, and also
showed how difficult was the way I had chosen.
And yet it has never seemed to me so diffi-
cult as it is imagined to be. Though the Sardar's
way and mine seem to diverge today, it does
not mean that our hearts also diverge. It was
in my power to stop him from seceding from
me. But it did not seem to be proper to do so.
And it would have been morally wrong to strive
with Rajaji in what he firmly regarded as his
clear duty. Instead, therefore, of dissuading
Rajaji I encouraged him to follow his course.
It was my clear duty to do so. If I have the
power to carry my experiment of ahimsa to
success in an apparently new field, if my faith
endures, and if I am right in thinking that the
masKS are fundamentally non-violent, Rajaji and
the Sardar will again be with me as before.
What are these apparently new fields for the
operation of non-violence ? Those who have
followed the Working Committee’s resolutions
and writing s in Harijan are now fa miliar •vp-ith
1 Duty; 2 Wealth; 3 Desire, aspiration.
these. Non-violence in its operation against
constituted authority is one field. We have
exercised this up to now with a fair amount
of success, and I have always described it as
the non-violence of the weak. This non-violence
may be said to have come to stay with
Congressmen.
The other field is the exercise of ahimsa in
internal disturbances — ■ Hindu-Muslim riots and
the like. We have not been able to show
visible success in the exercise of ahimsa in this
field. What then should the Congressmen do
when internal chaos is so imminent ? Will they
return blow for blow, or will they cheerfully
bend their heads to receive violent blows? The
answer to this is not so easy as we might think.
Instead of going into the intricacies, I should
say that Congressmen should try to save the
situation by laying down their lives, not by
taking any. He who meets death without
striking a blow fulfils his duty cent per cent.
The result is in God’s hands.
But it is clear that this non-violence is not
the non-violence of the weak. It does not give
one the joy of jail-going. One can have that
joy and also cover thereby the ill-will one har-
bours in his breast against the Government. One
can also non-cooperate with the Government.
But where swords, knives, lathis and stones ace
freely used, what is a man to do single-handed?
Is it possible for one to receive these deadly
blows with ill-will in one’s heart? It is clear
that it is impossible to do so, unless one is
saturated with charity. It is only he who feels
one with his opponent that can receive his
blows as ..though they were so many flowers.
Even one such man, if God favours him, can
do the work of a thousand. It requires soul
force — moral courage — of the highest type.
The man or woman who can display this non-
violence of the brave cam easily stand against
external invasion. This is the third field for the
exercise of non-violence. The Congress Working
Committee were of opinion that, while it might
be possible for us to exercise ahimsa in internal
disturbances, India has not the strength to
exercise ahimsa against the invasion of a foreign
foe. This their want of faith has distressed me.
I do not believe that the unarmed millions of
India cannot exercise ahimsa with success in this
wide field. It is for Congressmen to reassure the
Sardar, whose faith in ahimsa of the strong has
for the moment been shaken, that ahimsa is the
only weapon that can suit India in the fields
mentioned. Let no one ask, “But what about the
martial races in India?" For me that is all the
more reason why Congressmen should train
themselves to defend their country with a non-
violent army. This is an entirely new experiment.
But who, save the Congress, is to try it — the
Congress which ■ has tried it successfully in one
field ? It is my unshakable faith that, if we
have a sufficient number of non-violent soldiers,
we are sure to succeed even in this new field.
July 13, 1940 ]
HABIJAN
201
■apart from the saving of the needless waste of
crores of rupees.
I am therefore hoping that every Gujarati
•Congressite — man and -woman — will declare their
adherence to ahimsa and reassure the Sardar that
■they will never resort to violence. Even if there
is sure hope of success in the exercise of violence,
they will not prefer it to the exercise of non-
violence. We are sure to learn by our mistakes.
“ We fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
sleep to wake.”
On the train to Wardha, 7-7-40
( Translated from Gujarati )
THE DELHI EESOLHTION
( By M. K. Gandhi )
I have just seen the news that the Working
■Committee’s fateful resolution has been released
to the Press. It was passed in my presence, but
I wanted to say nothing before it was actually
released for publication. It will be a profound
mistake to suppose that the members passed the
■five solid days in wrangling. They had to dis-
charge a heavy responsibility. Though logically
the resolution is no departure from the Ramgarh
resolution, it is an undoubted departure from its
■spirit. The letter often remains constant, the
spirit changes. Up to now for one reason or
another the Congress policy was: No participation
in the war except for the moral influence that
the Congress can exercise if the vital demand
was satisfied of Britain’s own free will. Such
was not the position of all the members of
the Working Committee. Hence at the critical
moment every member had to make up his
or her mind independently of the rest. The
five days were days of tremendous heart-search-
ing. I had produced a draft resolution which
almost all thought was the best, if they
could bring to bear a living belief in non-vio-
lence through and through, or if they could
truthfully say that such was the belief of their
constituencies. Some had neither and some had
"individually the required faith. Only Khan Saheb
was clear so far as his own faith and that of
his beloved Khudai Khidmatgars were concerned.
So he had decided even after the last Wardha
resolution that he had no place in the Congress.
He had a special mission and a special duty to
his followers. So the Working Committee gladly
permitted him to retire from the Congress. By
retiring he serves the Congress all the more even
as I hope to do. Who knows that those of us,
who retire may not be able to give our com-
rades the faith they seem, for the moment, to
have lost ?
Rajaji was the framer of the resolution. He
was as certain of his position as I was of
mine. His persistency, courage and utter humility
brought him converts. Sardar Patel was his
greatest prize. He would not have even thought
of bringing up his resolution if I bad chosen
to prevent him. But I give my comrades the
same credit for earnestness and self-confidence
that I claim for myself. I had long known that
we were drifting away from each other in our
outlook upon the political problems that face us.
He will not allow me to say that his is a
departure from ahimsa. He claims that his very
ahimsa has led him to the point which cul-
minated in his resolution. He thinks that I
suffer from obsession owing to too much
brooding on ahimsa. He almost thinks that my
vision is blurred. It was no use my returning
the compliment though half joking I did. I
have no proof, save my faith, to question his
counter faith. That is evidently absurd. I could
not carry the Committee with me at Wardha and
so I got my absolution. I at once saw as clear
as daylight that, if my position was not accept-
able, Rajaji’s was the only real alternative. I
therefore encouraged him to persist in his effort,
though all the while I held him to be hope-
lessly in the wrong. And by exemplary patience,
skill and considerateness towards his opponents
he got a good majority, five remaining neutral.
I had a fearful moment. Generally such resolu-
tions are not carried by the majority vote. But
at this juncture unanimity was not to be ex-
pected. I advised that Rajaji’s resolution should
be enforced. And so at the last moment the
Committee decided that the resolution should
go forth to the world.
It was necessary for the public to have this
background to the tremendous step the Com-
mittee have taken for good or ill. Those Con-
gressmen who have a living faith in the non-
violence of the strong will naturally abstain.
For the moment, however, what they can do is
wholly irrelevant. Rajaji’s resolution represents the
considered policy of the Congress. Non-Congress-
men, who were eager for the Congress to be
free of my religious bias to adopt a purely
political attitude, should welcome the resolution
and support it whole-heartedly. So should the
Muslim League, and even the Princes who think
of India more than their principalities.
The British Government have to make their
choice. Independence they cannot withhold unless
their wisdom is as much blurred as Rajaji claims
that mine is. If Independence is recognised, the
acceptance of the other part of the resolution
follows as a matter of course. The question is:
do they want to impress help from India by
virtue of their rulcrship over India, or will they
have the help that a free and independent India
can give ? My individual advice has already
gone. My help always has been promised.
Acceptance of that advice can but enhance their
heroism. But if they cannot accept it, I advise,
as a disinterested but staunch friend, that the
British Government should not reject the hand
of friendship offered by the Congress.
Sevagram, 8-7-40
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radbakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0.
Postage 8 As. Avmlable at Harijcm office-Poona 4.
202
HARIJAN
[ July 13, 1940
MORE ABOUT HANDICRAFTS of social and living conditions in the United
A Rock Bottom Queiry
Some time back Gandhiji had an interesting
discussion with a group of noted economists.
The theme of discussion was, is khadi economi-
cal as compared to mill cloth ? Incidentally
they also covered the subject of handicrafts. The
view of the economist friends was that khadi
and handicrafts were all right as a means for
providing industrial relief to the unemployed in
the present stage of India’s transition, and as
such deserved to be supported, but they could
not be given a central place in national planning.
It would be wrong in principle, they held, to
prop up inherently ‘uneconomical industries’, as
they considered khadi and most other handicrafts
to be, in order to make them compete with
machine products to the detriment of the latter
and thereby curtail the productive capacity of
the country. Gandhiji’s contention was that it
was the factory product that was today being
subsidised by society in a number of ways at the
expense of handicrafts. For instance, the factory
system depended for its success on cheap railway
transport, special municipal facilities, existence and
collaboration of a number of collateral key indus-
tries, ample banking and insurance facilities, a high
level of general technical education to ensure an
unfailing and plentiful supply of specialised and
eflBcient labour. All these meant an enormous
cost. But society did not grudge it as the con-
comitant conditions of life which resulted from
it, i. e. quick travelling, motor cars, the cinema,
radio, electric light, and a thousand and one
thrills provided by what Stuart Chase has called
“ the toys of civilization ” are what the city-
bred intellectual, who today guides our social
destinies, wants. The handicrafts, on the other
hand, depend for their success on a different
system of economics. If a rural-minded society
provided these, no power on earth would be
able to compete with handicrafts. But then such
a society shall have to be content with the
simple joys and satisfactions which the countryside
provides and not dream of a utopia in which all
the villages would be equipped with the latest
‘modern conveniences’. The so-called economical
character of factory production as compared
t;o handicrafts production today is not an
inherent quality, but only a conferred attribute
depending on the standard of values which
society has adopted or considers desirable to
adopt. The only unalterable and rock bottom
test of whether an occupation or method of
production is economical or otherwise, is how far
it answers life’s vital needs, what the making of
it means to the producer.
Value of Handicrafts
Mr. Ellen H. Eaton examines the case for
handicrafts from this standpoint in his Russell’s
Foundation volume Handicrafts of Southern High-
landst a copy of which he has sent to Gandhiji.
The Russel Sage Foundation was established in
1909 by Mr. Russell Sage “for the improvement
States of America.” In carrying out its purpose,
the Foundation maintains a staff which, among
other duties, conducts study of social conditions,
authorised by the General Director, “ where new
information, its analysis and interpretation seem
necessary, in order to formulate and advance
practicable measures aimed at improvement. ”
From time to time the foundation publishes the
results of these studies in book or pamphlet form.
In the present volume the author furnishes
some valuable testimony as to the aesthetic,
educational, therapeutic and recreational value of
handicrafts. His testimony is all the more valu-
able since it comes from the representative of a
nation that has travelled farther on the road to
mechanisation than any other, and therefore bears
the hall-mark of experience. “ To a handicrafts
worker,” observes Mr. Eaton in the introduction
to his book, “ his work will help him not only
to perceive much of the beauty of the world
about him, but what is man’s greatest privilege
to identify himself with it.. ..Each handicraft has
its own special reward, but there are a few com-
pensations which all handicrafts bring to him
who works at his open windowj First, and
perhaps greatest of these, “ is the opportunity for
self-expression which much of life’s work with
its modern advantages does not give”. Another
compensation is a growing appreciation of beauty
in the things of everyday life. The effort to
make a useful object pleasing to the eye or
touch gives the craftsman “ an understanding of
the age-long struggle to bestow on objects of
daily use that quality that renders their owner-
ship one of life’s little events. And recognizing
beauty in things that he had not noticed before
or looking at had regarded as commonplace, he
feels himself a joint possessor with those who
have designed them and with all others who
enjoy them.” His avocation brings him into close
touch with nature, “ the source of all the arts”.
“The lumber with which he builds a house or the
small block on which he carves a design, opens his
window upon the trees of grove and forests; through
weaving he sees the flocks, the ilax and the cotton
fields; or through his pottery he comes to know the
many clays and kaolins from which ceramics, porce-
lains or building bricks are formed.
From such personal experience the worker in-
handicrafts will wish for others the privileges which
have meant so much to him; and he will ask him-
self if there are not always ways by which the
sense of beauty could be extended from the some-
what narrow fields of art to the broader field of
human relations. And he comes to see that to ask
the question is in part to answer it.
He longs to have a share in this larger world.
Recalling instances in which some of the lowliest
tasks have been done beautifully... becomes clear
to him that it is not what one does that deter-
mines a work of art hut the manner in which it
is done. An object of art may be a painting on
canvas, a cathedral in stone, but it may also be a
JULY 13, 1940 ]
HAEIJAl^
203
well printed and beautifully bound book, a loaf of
bread, or a kitchen garden.*' To restate itj he realizes
that art is just the best way of doing a thing
that needs to be done — the expression of beauty
within limitations. These limitations are the use it
is to serve, the material of which it is made, the
place it is to occupy."
Handicrafts Economics
Because of his insight into this threefold limi-
tation which is the very soul of handicrafts pro-
duction the author is able to point out the
danger of organizing handicrafts production on
orthodox economic and business principles. He
enumerates six sets of proposals “ ostensibly
made to forward the interests of the Highlander
handicraftsman which result quite differently
from what has been intended.”
The first one of these is the riskiest, viz.
speed of production by installing modern machi-
nery. “ The advice to apply power to handlooms
and to use other machines,” observes Mr. Eaton,
is natural and grows our of the age-long desire
to save time for other things, and in recent
years, by saving time, to cut down the cost of
production.” But this proposal involves a fallacy.
**Time is a relative matter and is quite a differ-
ent thing in parts of the Highlands where
the tempo of living and working differs from
anything that modern industry and urban life
know. Good tools, simple machinery, cheap and
practical power will be a boon to the High-
lander if gradually introduced on a basis that
he can afford and become accustomed to and
if they shall not lessen his skill and undermine the
quality of his product'' But speed is neither his
first nor in most cases his most pressing need. To
utilize time for good work is better than to save it
for something less important." The argument applies
mutatis mutandis to India where handloom weav-
ing and village handicrafts are often sought to
be reorganised by the Departments of Industries,
if what was aimed at was to transplant minia-
ture weaving mills and factories into the villages
where the competition of mass production cannot
reach. No wonder they refuse to take root
or show vitality.
The other fallacies mentioned by Mr. Eaton are :
2. Take the work out of homes and establish
centres where producing and working conditions
can be controlled.
The principle of striving for a uniform product
is in many cases desirable. But there is a strong
feeling, ” remarks Mr. Eaton, “ among those who
have pioneered in the handicrafts revival that
the fireside industries must remain in the home
and not be turned into small factories ” More-
over, "as good hand-weaving as has ever been
done in the mountains has been done on the
home looms, and it is contended that there is
no work so difldcult that it cannot be produced
as well there as in a weaving centre, and at a
lower cost.” Whatever, therefore, is done to
finance and develop new and special industries,
‘^concludes the author, should not take away
from the handicrafts workers the advantages
which the slow building up of home work
has brought to them, ”
3. Sell in quantity through department and
ocher commercial stores.
This is wrong as it demands standardisation
of products and a heavy overhead charge on the
cost of production. Under the present circum-
stances, therefore, it is highly doubtful v;bether
the regular channels of crade ergnised to respond
to mass production can be utilized to market
handicraft to any great extent.
4. Tnstal efldciency cost systems and make only
articles that can be sold at a profit.
This won t do, as normally it is not easy to
evaluate a handicraft worker’s time because there
are few standards by which it can be measured,
" and also because urban time schedules are not
operative in the mountains. The history of handi-
crafts in the Southern Highlands presents many
an instance where, had eflSciency systems of
measurement been insisted on, the nascent occu-
pation would have been nipped in the very
beginning.”
5. Employ expert designers and use only their
designs.
This again is fallacious. Whilst co-operation
and co-ordination between trained designers and
workers who are to execute their designs can
be helpful, sole dependence of "the former will
discourage new expressions in various kinds of
work ” which is the soul of handicrafts produc-
tion and the secret of its vitality.
6. And above all produce standard articles
and eliminate sentiment about the craftsman
from the work.
To do so is to lose sight of the fact that
practising a handicraft is not merely an avoca-
tion — a method of production — but a way of
life. "A handicraftsman lives as much by his
work as by what he produces and earns,”
Anything that impairs the life-giving quality of a
handicraft chokes the very spring of its vitality.”
Sevagram, 25-6-40 Pyarelal
Congress Membership and Non-violence
A. Punjabi Congressman writes ; " Can those
who openly declare that they do not believe in
non-violence be Congress members, can they
take part in Gulughara celebrations, and what
should one do if such men be in a majority in
a Congress committee ?”
Now that I am out of the Congress guid-
ance, my opinion has little weight. I cannot
say what decision the Congress will give on
your questions. But I am quite clear that those
who do not believe in non-violence cannot
belong to the Congress. I am also clear that
no Congressman can take part in celebrations
such as Gulughara. If you find yourself in a
minority, the non-violent way for you is to
withdraw from the Committee.
On Delhi-Wardha train, 8-7-40 M. K. G.
( Translated from Gujarati )
204
HAKIJAN
[ JULY 13, 1940
ABOUT THE WAZIEIS
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Waziristan is one of the regions on the bor-
der of the Frontier Province. Everybody knows
that there are a number of tribes living on the
North-Western Frontier of India. The popular
notion about them is that they are born only
to rob and plunder and harass the British
Government. Both these notions are far remov-
ed from reality. These trans-border tribes are
bom and bred in extreme poverty. Life among
their native hills is a tale of chronic hardship
and internecine strife. India comes handy to
them for satisfying their pecuniary need by raid-
ing. Besides, there are not lacking people who
in order to serve their own political- ends are
ready to misguide them and set them on the
wrong path. Our knowledge about these tribes,
therefore, is almost confined to their raiding
activities. Khansaheb has told me that these
tribesmen are very simple and innocent by
nature. Whenever I have visited the Frontier
Province I had tried to go across and make
acquaintance with these tribes. My first effort in
this direction was made at the time of the
Irwin-Gandhi Pact. I had to give it up as Lord
Irwin said his Government would feel embar-
rassed. I next sought permission through corres-
pondence but was equally unsuccessful. I renewed
the attempt at the time of my first Frontier tour
and interviewed H. E, the Governor in that
behalf, but he could not give or rather could not
obtain for me the necessary permission. Recently
the Frontier Provincial Congress Committee
tried to send a deputation among the Waziris
not with any political motive but simply to do
welfare work. But the permission could not be
obtained. The Working Committee has now decid-
ed to send a deputation consisting of Shri Bhula-
bhai Desai and Janab Asaf AH. Let us hope the
deputation will be given the necessary permission.
The object of the Working Committee’s resolu-
tion is not political. Its purpose simply is to find
out how help can be rendered to the border tribes
and friendly relations cultivated with them. It ill
comports with our dignity to be in constant dread
of them. Ignorance is at the root of most of our
fears. If 1 suspected my neighbour, naturally I
would be afraid of him. But if I cast out my sus-
picion, the fear would automatically go. For years
we have proceeded on the assumption that the
authorities would under no circumstances allow
us to cultivate friendly relations with the border
tribes. The Government, on their side, have, under
the spell of their pet bogey, spent crores of rupees
on building forts and block houses and on send-
ing out military expeditions into the tribal terri-
tory. It should be a duty of the Congress to
try to cultivate sincere and friendly relations with
these folk. The proposed step of the W^orking
Committee is, therefore, to be welcomed. Let
us hope that the Congress, having begun the
efiGnt, will pursue it to the end.
On the train to Wardha, 8-7-40
( Translated from Gujarati )
WORKING COMMITTEE
AND THE WAZIRIS
The Congress Working Committee passed the
following resolution at its session held at Delhi
this week:
Khan Abdul GaflFar Khan has reported to the
Working Committee that an attempt was made
by the Frontier Provincial Congress Committee
to send amongst the Waziris a deputation with a.
view to use their influence with the tribesmen
and to wean them from dacoities, kidnappings
and the like. It is the conviction of the Pro-
vincial Congress Committee of the Frontier
Province, which conviction the Working Commit-
tee share, that it is possible to cultivate friendly
relations with the tribesmen of the surround-
ing country. With that end in view, the party
was to proceed to Waziristan to examine their
economic conditions, and to render them such
aid for their social welfare as was possible for
the Provincial Congress Committee to render.
It was their intention also to find out the causes
of the dacoities. But the deputation was not
permitted by the Government to proceed to-
Waziristan. The deputation had offered to
take any official with them, if the Government
thought such a step necessary. But for reasons
best known to them, the Government of India
declined to entertain the proposal. The Working
Committee regret the decision, and take this
opportunity to declare to all the tribesmen that
the Congress can have nothing but goodwill
towards them. The Congress has always sought
to establish the friendliest relations with them,
to share their sorrows, and to help them in
all possible ways, especially in the way of
educating their children, improvement of their
economic condition and medical and hygienic
welfare. The Working Committee hope too that
the leaders of tribesmen will reciprocate the
Congress goodwill, and endeavour to the best of
their ability to wean those tribesmen who resort
to dacoities and the like, which the Working
Committee have reason to believe have no
political or religious motive, but ate prompted
by poverty or by persons of political machina-
tions.
The Working Committee hereby appoint
Shri Bhulabhai Desai and Janab Asaf Ali, Shri
Bhulabhai Desai being leader, to proceed to
Waziristan and carry on the work that the said
deputation would have done. The Working
Committee hope that all facilities will be given
to the deputation to proceed to Waziristan. The
Working Committee trust that Shri Bhulabhai
Desai and Janab Asaf Ali will forthwith proceed
on their mission and report to the Working
Committee the result thereof. The Working
Committee advise the people of the Frontier
Province to discover the causes of the depreda-
tions from the tribesmen, not to get frightened,,
but patiently to discover the ways and means
of cultivating neighbourly relations with the
tribesmen.
HARIJAN
JULY 13, 1940 ]
205
MYSORE LAWYERS
( By M. Ko Gandhi )
Several Mysore lawyers who had taken part
in the Mysore satyagraha struggle have been
disbarred by the Mysore Chief Court. The last
victim is Shri H. C. Dasappa, a most respected
Mysorean and a practitioner of twenty years’
standing. Serious as the disbarring of a member
belonging to a liberal profession must be, such
cases have happened before now on insufficient
or purely political grounds. Such injustices have
to be borne with resignation and fortitude.
But the order of the Chief Judge in Shri
.Dasappa’s case as reported in The Hindu has
■made for me most painful reading. Shri
Dasappa had the hardihood to defy a magistrate’s
-order not to address meetings in a part of
.Mysore, and had the equal hardihood under my
instruccions to advise satyagrahi prisoners to
boycott the departmental inquiry by Justice
Nagesvara Iyer. For these grave oflEenccs Shri
.Dasappa has been disbarred for ever. He will be
reduced to penury, if the Judges could help it
•and if their verdict has any potency beyond
the paper on which it is written. Shri Dasappa
becomes a man without a character to be des>
pised and shunned by society. I happen to know
Shri Dasappa personally. I hold him to be a
man of spotless character and unimpeachable
honesty. He has been manfully striving to prac-
tise non-violence to the best of his ability. He
•has done what many patriot lawyers or no
-lawyers have done in , British India. And nowa-
days the Judges take no notice of their conduct*
and the public have made of them heroes.
Advocate Bhulabhai has been Advocate-General
of the Bombay High Court. He has defied
Jaws. So has Advocate Munshi, and so has
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. They have not
been disbarred. Two of them have been
-Ministers in their Provinces, Public inquiries
have been boycotted before now with impunity.
Neither the honour nor the character of those
who have brought about such boycotts have
been impugned. In my opinion the Judges of
the Mysore Court have forgotten themselves in
delivering their judgment. Shri Dasappa has
not suffered. He will rise in the estimation of
the people of Mysore, But I make bold to say
the Mysore Judges have suffered by allowing
themselves to be carried away by prejudice.
Such travesty of justice has happened before now.
A Durban Magistrate who was carried away by
•some stupid prejudice had condemned an innocent
man. His judgment was reversed, and the Supreme
Court condemned it in such scathing terms that
■the Magistrate had to be removed. The Judges
of the martial law days in the Punjab were not
removed, but many were thoroughly disgraced
because they had pronounced judgments which
•could not be supported by evidence before them.
This Mysore judgment is worse than the Punjab
jjudgments. Then there was panic. Murders had
been committed by the mob, and eminent men
were tried not by ordinary courts but by martial
law tribunals. In Mysore nothing of the kind has
happened. The Chief Judge’s order is a cool and
calculated attack on the honour of a man who
could not defend himself against reckless state-
ments from the Bench. Judges sometimes forget,
as these Mysore gentlemen have done, that there
is the bar of public opinion which is no
respecter of persons.
My condolence and pity go out to the Judges
who have delivered a judgment which, let me
hope, in their cooler moments they will regret.
For Shri Dasappa and his colleagues who have
been disbarred I have nothing but congratula-
tions, I would ask them to turn the punishment
into a blessing. It is well that they cannot appear
before Judges who can be so grossly prejudiced
as the Mysore Judges have proved themselves to
be. Let these lawyers be proud of their -poverty
which will be probably their lot now. Let
them remember Thoreau’s saying that possession
of riches is a crime and poverty a virtue under
an unjust administration. This is an eternal
maxim for satyagrahis. The disbarred lawyers
have a rare opportunity of so remodelling their
lives that they can always be above want. Let
them remember that practice of law ought not
to mean more taking daily than, say, a village
carpenter’s wage. Let them make redoubled
efforts to produce such a state of affairs in
Mysore that the travesty of the nature I have
described may become impossible. It is no
pleasure to me to have to write as strongly
as I have done. But I could do no less if
I was to serve Truth.
Sevagram, 9-7-40
A NOTE
Parhaps a brief note of facts is necessary to
explain Gandhiji’s remarks on the extraordinary
order of the Mysore Chief Judge directing Shri
H. C. Dasappa to be struck off the rolls of
the High Court. The first charge against Shri
Dasappa was that he had disobeyed the Kolar
District Magistrate’s order prohibiting him from
addressing meetings in a certain area. The other
and, in the Judges’ opinion more serious, charge
was that Shri Dasappa as President of the Mysore
Congress advised the Congressmen not to parti-
cipate in an inquiry appointed by Government.
The inquiry was to be made into serious alle-
gations of torture made by the Congress against
police officials. It was entrusted to a Judge of
the Mysore Court. The Mysore Congress, acting
on Gandhiji’s advice, decided not to participate
in the inquiry, as it was not of an impartial
and independent character. This action on the
part of Shri Dasappa as President of the Con-
gress could by no stretch of imagination be
described as having anything to do with his
conduct as a lawyer, but it was regarded by
the Chief Justice as defect of character
unfitting him to be an advocate of the High
Court”.
206 HARIJAN [ JULY 13, 1940
He was asked by the High Court to explain
his conduct. He naturally questioned the proce-
dure as irrelevant, but described in a statement
the circumstances leading to the decision for
non-participation in the inquiry. This is what
Shri Dasappa said in the course of bis statement:
“ The Government appointed Justice A. R.
Nagesvara Iyer to carry on what was admittedly
a departmental inquiry, not open to the press or
the public. Attempts made to have the inquiry
postponed with a view to arrive at an amicable
settlement in the matter, were of no avail. It was
then that the Mysore Congress was advised by
Mahatma Gandhi to negotiate for a change in
the personnel of the inquiry .... The opponent
submits that the inquiry was only a depart-
mental one and there was no court constituted
for the purpose. There was no legal obligation
whatever on the part of the Congressmen to
tender evidence at the inquiry. The moral obli-
gation would only arise in case the tribunal
was satisfactory.”
It is these words that provoked the ire of the
Chief Justice, and in criticising them he has
made -certain statements of astounding audacity ;
“ To make a foul allegation against one's neigh-
bour and to refuse either to withdraw it or
substantiate it, was a conduct to which no
decent-minded man who had not lost all sense
of fairness would descend or advise others to
descend. ” Again ; “ I understand from the Res-
pondent’s statement that the aim of his politi-
cal association is to get Responsible Government
established in this State. This is a form of
Government which many of us would admire,
and all of us, who are not Judges, are at
liberty to advocate. This is not an occasion on
which it would be proper to discuss the
advantages or disadvantages of that form of
Government. But I think we shall agree that
that form of Government can have no chance
of success in any country in which there is not
a general spirit of fairness throughout the country.
The Respondent, in this matter of deterring his
followers from withdrawing or substantiating
their charges against their fellow-subjects, has
shown himself devoid of that spirit of fairness.
He has stated in one part of his statement that
he did so at the dictates of a person outside the
State. No man fit to be an advocate of this
Court can submit his conscience to anyone else
in that way. It is no excuse for such conduct.”
Again, The Chief Justice, proceeding, obser-
ved, says The Hindu report, that “it was surpris-
ing that the Respondent, the professed votary
of truth, should have behaved in such a way.
Perhaps it is because truth is so often degraded
in this country into nothing more than a
political catchword that the Respondent has
lost all appreciation of its meaning and value.
It was a sad thing indeed for anyone to have
so degraded himself and tq^ have lowered his
moral standards. It would not be fair to
require other members of this honourable profes
sion to associate in the work of the Courts
with a man who had allowed his morals to be so
debased, nor would it be safe to allow litigants
to allow their cases in his hands. In my opinion
it is quite clear that the Respondent has become
by defect of character unfit to remain an advo-
cate of this Court, ”
Sevagram, 9-7-40 M. D,
‘‘FOR HE HAD GREAT POSSESSIONS”
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur writes from Simla under
the above heading :
“ Lovers of English art must be familiar with the
beautiful picture of one of their great artists entitled
‘ For he had great possessions *. Those familiar with
the Bible will know of the story of the rich man
who came to Jesus to ask him the way of salva-
tion and how, when the Master asked him to give*
up all he had and follow him, “ the young man went
away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. ” This
picture has been coming vividly before my mind
during this time of anguish. I love Europe, in
particular do I love England where some of the
happiest years of my life have been spent, I owe
much to her people, to her educational institutions,
and to her glorious literature. My woman’s heart
bleeds today when I hear and read of the wanton
waste of life and ruthless destruction that is rampant
today in that lovely continent. There is nothing but
vainglory and boasting and ill-will and hatred talked
over the radio. The destruction of an aeroplane or
submarine or battleship on either side is an occasion
for rejoicing; there is gloating over the loss of life.
Englishwomen whom one would have thought in-
capable of hurting a fly are heard to say that they
would give their souls to kill Hitler or any number
of Germans. It must be the same in Germany.
It is heart-breaking to think that the spark of
love within the people of the warring nations is so
dead that all sense of kindliness and humanity is
absent. But if they were to pause and think as to*
what the war in Europe and tlie war in the Far
East is being fought for, the answer is as clear as
daylight. It is for the greed of possession. How
then can your soul-stirring appeal to every Briton
have any response ? The eyes of all these warriors
are blinded with lust, and they will never see th^
folly and iniquity of their ways until the idea of
possession leaves them. The Prime Minister of
England has talked of ‘ the curse of Hitler being
lifted from the brows of men/. It is the curse of
possession that must be lifted from our hearts if
peace is to be established once again on earth and.
if it is to be a true and lasting one, * Possession,
is eleven points in the law and they say there are
but twelve,’ is a well-known English proverb. But
as my weak faith daily grows stronger in non-
violence, I am convinced that non-possession is the
fulfilment of the law of life. If Britain could only
realise this today, your appeal to her great people
would not fall on deaf ears and she would rejoice
in doing justice by India. And if we in our home-
land would realise the great truth also, there wouldl
-be no communal discord and no untruth in us.”
July 13, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
The Late Changanacherry Pillai
The readers must have learnt about the death
of Shri Changanacherry K. Parameswaran Pillai
of Travancore. He was one of the true and
consistent Harijan sevaks. He was a retired
Judge of the Travancore High Court. He was
a member of the Executive Council of the
Harijan Sevak Sangh. As a man he was most
unassuming and lovable. His secretary sends me
the following pathetic account of his death:
“I should like to introduce myself as one who
was Private Secretary to the late Shri Changana-
cherry K. Parameswaran Pillai. The purpose of this
letter is to give a description of the sad demise of
Shri Changanacherryj of which you are already aware.
After the first stroke of brain paralysis in Novem-
ber 19393 Shri Changanacherry recovered sufficiently
well to move about by February 1940. Recently he
had been taking much care about his body. He
spent the summer at the Cape- On return from
there, he looked thoroughly fit and sound. He pur-
chased a new car and used to go to the Beach very
often in the evenings. On otl#r days he had
his evening walks. In fact his constitution had so
much improved that it seemed he had never- looked
so well. In spite of all physical improvements, his
mental defects persisted. He could talk fairly well,
but could not speak the names of some persons,
nor remember them when he wanted to. Coherent
conversation for ten minutes together was also
impossible. Nevertheless, he began to show interest
in all the public institutions with which he was
actively associated till he retired from public life. It is
interesting to record that the day before his death he
sent me to his Estate at Vidura where there are a Kani
Ashram, a weaving school and a primary school,
which institutions together with ten acres of land
were given as a gift to the Harijan Sevak Sangh
some years ago. The institutions except the school
had not recently been working due to paucity of
funds. I was deputed to inspect the institutions and
prepare a scheme to revive them. I had actually
prepared the scheme but had no opportunity to place
it before him. The day before his death, he had his
usual evening walk, and rather unusually, in com-
pany with his little children. On returning home at
7"30 P. M. he arranged for a feast the next day,
wonderful in the case of a man who always ate to
live. The morning of the fatal day he spent dis-
cussing the plan for a new building to be erected
in his property in the town, with a contractor. At
12-30 he partook of a sumptuous feast and retired
to his bed-room for a nap.
His wife was in the room also. At aboutS.P, M.
he woke up showing some uneasiness. His hands
and limbs were quivering. Seeing this unusual
behaviour, the doctor who was living next door was
sent for. He arrived within ten minutes to find the
patiezrt without pulse. An injection was administered
but to no effect. The doctor was preparing to give
another injection when death lay its icy .hands
•on the great leader. It is supposed the end was
207
due to another stroke of brain paralysis which this
time proved fatal. The death actually took place at
3 P. M. on 30th June.
The cremation took place at 11-30 P. M, in his
own property at Poojappurai. A large crowd had
gathered to pay homage to the dead leader. He
leaves behind his wife and eight children. The
eldest is a daughter and she was married recently.
I may also add that Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar
sent a condolence message the next day morning.
The consensus of opinion here is that there never
was a greater Travancorean with such versatile
genius, who was so remarkably associated with all
the public activities of his time. The whole country
is in mourning."
Death prompted the feast. As the secretary
truly says he ate to live. But God confounds
our wisdom when He wants to take us unwary.
None of us can boast that we would do better
than the late sevak. It will be creditable if we
can close our lives as did this great Harijan
sevak. May God bless his spirit and give courage
to his widow and family to bear their loss,
and let me hope that they will follow in his
footsteps.
Sevagram. 9-7-40 M. K. G.
Is Islam Inspired ?
A writer in a Muslim paper has suggested
that, if I regard Islam as an inspired religion
and Muhammad as the Prophet of God, I should
declare my belief, so that Mussalmans' doubts
may be dispelled and Hindu-Muslim unity may
possibly be more easily achieved, I read the
suggestion about a month ago, but I did not
think it necessary to respond to it. But as
nowadays I read as many Muslim papers as I
can, in order to acquaint myself with the
Muslim mind, and as I fiind them so full of
poison and conscious or unconscious untruths,
I feel it necessary to redeclare my opinion
about Islam, though I think it is well-known.
I certainly regard Islam as one of the inspired
religions, and therefore the Holy Quran as an
inspired book and Muhammad as one of the
prophets. But even so I regard Hinduism,
Christianity, Zoroastrianism as inspired religions.
The names of many of them have been already
forgotten, for the simple reason that those reli-
gions and those prophets related to the parti-
cular ages for which and peoples for whom
they flourished. Some principal religions are
stiH extant. After a study of those religions
to the extent it was possible for me, I
have come to the conclusion that, if it is
proper and necessary to discover an underlying
unity among all religions, a master-key is needed.
That master-key is that of truth and non-
violence. When I unlock the chest of a religion
with this master-key, I do not find it difl&cult
to discover its likeness with other religions.
When you look at these religions as so many
leaves of a tree they seem so different, but at
the trunk they are one. Unless and until we
realize this fundamental unity, wars in the name
of religion will not cease. These are not confined
to Hindus and Mussalmans alone. The pages of
world history are soiled with the bloody accounts
of these religious wars. Religion can be defended
only by the purity of its adherents and their
good deeds, never by their quarrels with those
of other faiths.
On the train to Wardha, 8-7-40 M. K. G.
( T ranslated from Gujarati )
SUBHASBABU
(.By M. K. Gandhi")
On the return journey to Wardha a young
man at Nagpur station asked why the Working
Committee had not taken any notice of Subhas-
babu’s arrest. I was in silence and so gave no
reply but took note of the reasonable question.
I have no doubt that hundreds if not thousands
must have asked themselves the question the
young man put at Nagpur. It is true that
Subhasbabu is an ex-Rasbtrapati of the Congress
twice elected in succession. He has a record of
great sacrifice to his credit. He is a leader born.
All these qualities alone will not warrant a
protest against the arrest. The Working Com-
mittee would be bound to take notice of it,
if it could be condemned on merits. Subhasbabu
did not defy the law with the permission of
the Congress. He has frankly and courageously
defied even the Working Committee. If he had
asked for permission to raise any side-issue for
battle at the present juncture, the Committee
would, I think, have refused it. Hundreds of
issues of greater importance can be discovered.
But the country’s attention is for the moment
riveted upon one single issue. Preparations are
being made to take up direct action at the
proper time on that issue. Therefore, if the
Working Committee had taken any action, it
would have been one of disapprobation.
That the Committee would not do. I might
also have ignored the youth’s remark. But
I, felt that no harm could occur by my
putting this arrest in its proper setting. The
arrest of a big man like Subhasbabu is
no small matter. But Subhasbabu has laid out
his plan of battle with deliberateness and
boldness. He thinks that his way is the best.
He honestly thinks that the Working Committee’s
way is wrongs and that nothing good will come
out of its “ procrastination”. He told me in the
friendliest manner that he would do what the
Working Committee had failed to do. He yfras
action to be correct, he has the right, and it
is his duty, to pursue it whether the Congress
likes it or not. I told him he v/ould be more
in the right if he resigned from the Congress
altogether. My advice did not commend itself
to him. Even so, if success attends his effort
and India gains her freedom, it will justify his
rebellion, and the Congress will not only not
condemn his rebellion but welcome him as a
saviour.
In satyagraha a courted imprisonment carries,
its own praise. There can be no protest against
an imprisonment for a breach of the current
law' of the land. On the contrary, the practice
has been to congratulate arrested civil resisters
and invite Congressmen to imitate them. It is
obvious that the Committee could not do so in
Subhasbabu’s case. Let me remark in passing
that the Committee has taken no notice of the
numerous arrests and imprisonments that have
taken place even of prominent Congressmen. It
does not mean that the Committee docs not feel
anything about them. But in life’s battle there
is such a thing as a mute submission to many
a v/rong. If it is deliberate, it generates strength
which, if the submission is well conceived, mav
well become irresistible.
Sevagram, 9-7-40
Books on Non-violcncc
Price Poster He
Rs. As. As.
R. B. Gregg — ^The Power of Non-
violence ... 2 0 7
A. l-Iuxley — Ends and Means C 6
J. M . Murry — The Necessity of Pacifism
- 2 10 3
J. B. Kripalani^ — Non-violent Revolution
... 0 4 1
Dick Sheppard — We Say ‘No’ ... 2 10 3
G. Murray — The Cult of Violence ... 0 (> 1
Gandhiji — Hind Swaraj ... 0 4 2
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4
CONTENTS Page
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 193
Occasional Notes ... M. D. 194
What Led to the Decision ... M. D. 196
“ A Cry in the Wilderness” ? M, K. Gandhi 200
The Delhi Resolution ... M. K. Gandhi 201
More auout Handicrafts ... l^yarelal 202
About the Waziris ... M. K. Gandhi 204
Working Committee and the
impatient of delay. I told him that, if at the end
of his plan there was Swaraj during my lifetime
mine would be the first telegram of congratula^,
tion he would receive.. If while ; he was conduct-
ing his campaign I became a convert, I should
whole-heartedly acclaim him .ss my leader and
Waziris ... 204
Mysore Lawyer^ ' ... M. K. Gandhi
& M. D. 205
“For He Had GreatPossessions” Amrit Kaur 206
Subhasbabu ... M. K. Gandhi 208
Notes’ :
‘ Copyright ’ ... M. K. G. 193
enlist under his banner. But I ! warned him that Congress Membership And
his way was wrong. ■■ ' Non-violence ... M. K. G. 203
• My opinion, however. , matters little. So long , ^h^ngamacherry jyf tj q 207
as Subhasbabu Considers a particular course of ' . is Islam Inspired ? m! K. G. 207
totfd, and Publi^ed by, Viftal Hari Barve at the Aryabhu^an Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
Subscriptiosii Ratc» -- ; One year, Rs. 4; six months, Rs. 2-8. FOREIGN : One yeatf, Rs. 5-8 or 8 sh. or 2 9 .
Reg, No. B 3C92
Editw : MAHADSV DESAI
VoL. VIII, No. 23 3 POONA — SUNDAY. JULY 21, 1S40 [ ONE ANNA
NOTICE
Harijan, which was hitherto published every
Saturday, has changed its day of publication, and
will hereafter be published every Sunday. Agents
and readers will please note that, as a result of this
change, they will get their copies a day later than
hitherto. Manager
SOME MISCONCEPTIONS
Has Gandbiji Changed?
One question I have heard constantly being
asked during the past few days is : “ Gandhi ji him-
self asked people in Bettiah in 1921 and recently
the people in Sukkur to defend themselves
violently, if they could not do so non-violently.
Even courage, backed by the use of force, is
better than abject cowardice, he has said to us
times without number. Has he then changed his
position now ? The Working Committee would
seem to have gone no further than Gandhiji
himself did in the two cases mentioned.”
Gandhiji has not changed in the least. He
would give the people the same advice, but
what we forget is the clause with which it was
coupled: “You may thus defend yourselves, but
not as Congressmen.” The Working Committee’s
resolution, to whatever extent it allows the use
of violence, affects the Congressmen’s position.
That, Gandhiji holds, is contrary to the position
we have held for the past 21 years.
What lif the Working Committee members
had the same absolute faith in non-violence, but
passed the resolution as an allowance for the
weakness of faith of the rank and file of Con-
gressmen? They could not do so. They had to
hold to their faith and allow themselves to be
thrown out by those who had not that faith, if
these latter were in a majority. Or they might
have retired voluntarily if they found themselves
overwhelmed by the others. Thus the position
taken up by Gandhiji is not new. In an article
on the growing corruption in Congress ranks
written two years ago, he made the position
crystal clear:
“ With all the earnestness I can command I
therefore plead with every Congressman who
believes in his pledge to make his choice: either
to apply the purge I have suggested, or if that
is not feasible because of the Congress being
already overmanned by those who have lost faith
in its creed and its constructive programme on
which depends its real strength, to secede from
it for its own sake and prove his living faith
in the creed and the programme by practising
the former and prosecuting the latter as if he
had never seceded from the Congress of his ideal.
If one or the other thing is not done, I see
grave danger of the Congress collapsing by the
weight of its own weaknesses.”
In another article last year analysing the res-
ponsibility of violence if it broke out in the
Princes’ India, he said: “ The responsibility will
have to be shared by the Paramount Power, the
Princes, and above all by Congressmen. The first
two have never claimed to be non-violent. Their
power is frankly derived from and based on the
use of violence. But the Congress has since 1920
adopted non-violence as its settled policy and has
undoubtedly striven to act up to it.” The whole
question at the present critical moment is, are
we to align ourselves with those who have
never claimed to be non-violent, or are we to live
up to our creed? Even the British Government,
and all Governments for the matter of that, ,
follow the policy of ‘ forbear when we can, hit
when we must.’ Are we, when we come to
power, to be like the rest, or are we, by hold-
ing to the new trail we have blazed for twenty
years, to make new history ? It is likely that we
may fail, but let the failure apply to our in-
ability to govern, not to our inability to abstain
from the use of force. Let us then step aside,
and allow those who swear by the use of force
to govern.
If the Rank and File Believe
But if the Working Committee were wrong
in their assumption that the rank and file have
lost their belief in non-violence and that they
cannot come up to the scratch in times of crisis,
the rank and file have ' to reassure the Working
Committee. That is what Gandhiji said, with
special reference to the Gujaratis, in his article
last week. He explained the whole thing at much
greater length to the joint meeting of the Gandhi
Seva Sangh and the Charkha Sangh held soon after
the Wardha meeting of the Working Committee.
“Now is the testing time for you,” he said. “ The
Working Committee, let us say, were weighed
and found wanting. Can the Gandhi Seva Sangh
do anything to repair their failure ? The Working
Committee’s resolution does not mean that you
cannot appeal to people to declare their faith
in non-violence. You can do so, and then tell
the members of the Working Committee, ‘ You
undervalued our faith. We are going to hold by
the creed. ’. I tell you the Working Committee
210
HAEIJAN
members will not only not resent this, but will
simply dance with joy. Some of you are
members of the Congress. It is the duty of
those who are members and who believe in
non-violence to reassure the members of the
Working Committee, to declare their faith
before the meeting of the A. 1. C. C., and even
before the open Congress if the time comes.
But you may not separate your creed as Congress-
men and creed as ordinary human beings, your
behaviour in Congress afFairs and in non-Congress
affairs. Your non-violence, if it is true, must be
part of your normal life, must be in your
thought, word and deed, and must colour all
your behaviour. Then and then only can you
give the Working Committee the assurance I
have referred to, and compel them to alter
their resolution.”
The Test of Genuineness
“But,” he added, “let me explain this further.
You will examine every action of yours in the
light of the creed. That does not mean that
you will be morbid or pernickety. Your conduct
will have to be natural. When I began observ-
ing silence it meant an effort on my part. Now
it has become part of my nature, and to break
my silence means an effort. In the same way
acting non-violently must be part of your nature.
It is likely that your relating everything to
non-violence may be logically wrong, but it is
not wrong for you. I may be wrong, in the
eyes of others, in my belief that with every
thread that I draw I am bringing Swaraj nearer,
but for me the belief is as true as the fact that
I exist. That saves me from losing my sanity.
This spinning wheel is a symbol of non-violence
for me. The wheel as such is lifeless, but when
I ' invest it with symbolism it becomes a
living thing for me. Its sound, if it is musical,
is in tune with non-violence. If it is unmusical,
it is not in tune with it, for it indicates care-
lessness on my part. The steel spindle one can
use as a deadly weapon, but we have put it
there for the best possible use. So we have to
be meticulously careful about every part of the
wheel. Then and then only will it produce fine
music and spinning will be a true sacrificial act.
“But this kind of sadhana, you will say, may
take thousands of years. It may take some a
thousand years, and it may take some others
only one year. Don’t think that, if in spite of my
50 years’ practice of it I am .still imperfect, it
must take you many more years. No, there is
no rule of three here. You may succeed quicker
than I. I meant what I said to Frith wising :
* You had at any rate the violence of the brave.
I had nothing of it. Now if you believe in
cultivating non-violence of the brave, you will do
80 much more quickly than I, and you will leave
me behind.’ This applies to every one of you.
In South Africa I was the first to learn shoe-
making and so I taught it to others. But tho se
others soon left me behind. It was because I
•was a true teacher. Now if I am a true teacher
[ July 21, 1940
of ahimsa, I am sure you will soon leave behind
your teacher. If that does not happen, it will
only mean that I was an unfit teacher„ But if
my teaching fructifies, there will be teachers of
ahimsa in every home.
“I want to know how many of you are with
me. If none goes with me, I am ready to tread
my path alone. For I know that I can never
be alone as God is there with me. You are all
companion sadlidks (seekers) with me. I am old
but you have many years before you. And yet
let me tell you that I do not feel the weight
of my years. I do not think my power of growth
or capacity for research has come to an end.
“So you have to go forth and find out how
many actual believers in ahimsa there are among
Congressmen. The Working Committee members
are your representatives. If they were mistaken
in assessing the faith of their electors, you have
to correct their judgment. My position was
different from theirs. I consider myself a con-
firmed representative of ahimsa, and so I severed
my connection with the Congress in 1934. I
could not help doing it. If I had not done so»
I should have been untrue to my creed.
“No one knows my imperfections better than
I, but what little power I possess is derived
from my ahimsa. What is it but my ahimsa
that draws thousands of women to me in fear-
less confidence? But neither you nor I can
trade on our capital. We have to be up and
doing every moment of our lives, and go forward
in our sadhana. We have to live and move and
have our being in ahimsa, even as Hitler docs
in himsa. It is the faith and perseverance and
single-mindedness with which he has perfected
his weapons of destruction that commands my
admiration. That he uses them as a monster
is immaterial for our purpose. We have to
bring to bear the same single-mindedness and
perseverance in evolving our ahimsa. Hitler is
awake all the 24 hours of the day in perfecting
Ws sadhana. He wins because he pays the price.
His inventions surprise his enemies. But it
is his single-minded devotion to his purpose that
should be the object of our admiration and
emulation. Although he works all his waking
hours, his intellect is unclouded and unerring.
Are our intellects unclouded and unerring? A
mere belief in ahimsa or the charkha will not
do. It should be intelligent and creative. If
intellect plays, a large part in the field of
violence, I hold that it plays a larger part in
the field of non-violence.”
With this he referred to the work of Richard
Gregg in this direction, and described how the
latter had come to the conclusion that spinning
as a symbol of non-violence is good enough not
only for India but for the world.
Continuing he said: “The Working Committee’s
decision was simply an echo of the atmosphere
around them. My decision could not be its
echo. For ahimsa is my special sad/wna, not that
of the Congress, I congratulate the members on
July 21, 1940 ]
HARIJAH
211
their honesty and their courage^ though I am
sorry for myself that I could not inspire them
with confidence in our creed and in my leader-
ship. We have now to show that we have faith
in the non-violence of the brave. It does not
mean the development of the capacity to go to
jail It means increasing faith in the potency of
constructive work to bring about Swaraj, and
in constructive work being a vital part of the
programme of ahimsa."
Why an Imperfect Man Chosen ?
To those who have been saying that, if Gandhiji
has failed in perfecting his ahimsa, failure is
certain in their case, he had already given the
answer. But in the concluding part of the speech
he presented another aspect of his imperfection.
He said : “ In placing civil disobedience before
constructive work I was wrong, and I did not
profit by the Himalayan blunder that I had
committed. I feared that I should estrange my
co-workers, and so carried on with imperfect ahimsa.
But I am not sorry for my blunders. My imper-
fections and failures are as much a blessing from
God as my successes and my talents, and I lay
them both at His feet. Why should He have
chosen me, an imperfect instrument, for such a
mighty experiment? I think He deliberately did
so. He had to serve the poor dumb ignorant
millions. A perfect man might have been their
despair. When they found that one with their
failings was marching on towards ahimsa, they too
had confidence in their own capacity. We should
not have recognised a perfect man if he had
come as our leader, and we might have driven
him to a cave. Maybe he who follows me will
be more perfect and you will be able to receive
his message. Maybe some one of you may be
that perfect teacher who is to come. ”
An Impossible Ideal ?
But are we not being driven to philosophical
anarchism? Is that not an impossible ideal?
These questions were asked by a philosophic
friend some months ago, and Gandhiji gave him
replies which I think will be useful today.
* Docs anyone know true non-violence ? ” he
asked.
Gandhiji immediately replied: “ Nobody knows
it, for nobody can practise perfect non-violence.’
“Then how can it be used in politics?*
“It can be used in politics precisely as it
can be used in the domestic sphere. We may
not be perfect in our use of it, but we definitely
discard the use of violence, and grow from
failure to success.”
“ You would govern non-violently. But all
legislation is violence.”
“No, not all legislation. Legislation imposed
by people upon themselves is non-violence to
the extent it is possible in society. A society
organised and run on the basis of complete
non- violence would be the purest anarchy. ”
“Do you think it is a realisable ideal?”
“ Yes. It is realisable to the extent non-
violence is realisable.. That State is perfect and
non-violent where the people are governed the
least. The nearest approach to purest anarchy
would be a democracy based on non-violence.
The European democracies are to my mind a
negation of democracy. ”
“ Do you think that non-violence or the
democracy that you visualise was ever realised
in the olden times?”
“I do not know. But if it was not, it only
means that we had never made the attempt to
realise the highest in us. I have no doubt in
my mind that at some stage we were wiser,
and that we have to grow wiser than we are
today in order to find what beauties are hidden
in human nature. Perfect non-violence is im-
possible so long as we exist physically, for we
would want some space at least to occupy.
Perfect non-violence whilst you are inhabiting the
body is only a theory like Euclid’s point or
straight line, but we have to endeavour every
moment of our lives. "
Sevagram, 15-7-40 M. D.
Mysore Justice
After I had sent my note on Shri H. C
Dasappa’s case, I received the following from a
Bangalore advocate ;
You have now material which is sufficient to give
an indication of the independence of the Mysore Judi-
ciary. It is undoubtedly under the control and lead of
Sir D’Arcy Reilly. The other Judges in the High
Court follow in his footsteps, and no single instance can
be recalled when any Puisne Judge of the High Court
of Mysore has had the strength to demur to even the
excesses committed by the Chief Justice in the language,
form and tone of his judgments. The Government,
which professes not to interfere with either the High
Court or the Judiciary is evidently well satisfied
about the Judges of the High Court of Mysore. For a
dozen years important judgments have come from the
Judges of the High Court which have clearly shown
that they have yielded to the pressure of the bureau-
cracy while professing fear of God and of no man.
Probably it is this practical docility that has made the
Government Order on Political Reforms in the State
silent to the point of being sinister as regards re-
commendations for the reform of the Judiciary in
the State. To cap all comes the pronouncement in
Shri H. C. Dasappa’s case that *in this country
truth is so often degraded into a political catch-
word.* The reference to the country is wide enough
in its mischief and implication so as to embrace all
people whether Congressmen or others and whether
they reside in the States or in British India. What
basis had Sir D’Arcy Reilly for such an assumption?
And what evidence had he fer such a general charge
against a whole country? Is it moral on the part
of Sir D’Arcy Reilly to condemn Sri H. C. Dasappa
and debar him on the ground that he preferred a
charge that he could not prove, and do the same
thing under a different guise in a judgment ? ”
My correspondent’s complaint is right. But
Judges are above all law, at least in Mysore.
Like kings they can do no wrong.
Sevagram, 1^7-40 M* K. G.
212
HAEIJAN
-l-latijdn
July 21
1940
UNREPENTANT
{By M. K. Gandhi)
By writing that ‘Appeal to Every Briton’ I
have invited upon my head an extra load of
work which without God’s help I would be ill
able to bear. If it is His will that I should
shoulder it, He will give me the strength to
carry on.
When I decided to confine myself mostly to
writing in Gujarati or Hindustani, I had no
notion that I would have to write the appeal.
It came to me like a flash, and the courage to
write it came with it. I had resisted till then
all pressure from English and American friends
to give guidance. But I could not see my way.
Now having addressed that appeal, I must follow
up the reactions to it. A large amount of
correspondence is pouring in upon me. Save for
one angry telegram, I had nothing but friendly
criticism from Englishmen and even appreciation
from some,
I was grateful to H. E. the Viceroy for
forwarding my offer to His Majesty’s Govern-
ment. The correspondence with regard to it,
the readers have already seen or will see in
this issue. Though no better response to the
appeal was to be expected, I cannot help saying
that it was the knowledge of the determination
to carry the war to a victorious end that had
prompted my appeal. No doubt the determina-
tion is natural and worthy of the best British
tradition. Nevertheless the awful slaughter that
the determination involves, should induce a
search for a better and braver way to achieve
the end. For peace has its victories more glori-
ous than those of war. The non-violent method
would have meant no abject surrender. It would
have confounded all modern tactics of war,
indeed rendered them of no use. The new world
order which all dream of would surely have
been found, I hold a new order to be impossible
if the war is fought to a finish or mutual
exhaustion leads to a patched-up peace.
Let me, therefore, examine the argument
advanced in a letter received from a friend.
Here it is:
“Two English friends who admire you, say your
appeal to every Briton cannot have any effect just
now. It is impossible to expect the man in the
street to do a complete volte face with any degree
of understanding — indeed it is impossible for the
understanding to do, as you say, without a heart’
belief in non-violence. The time to mould a new
world on your lines will be after the war. They
realise^ your way is the right one, but they say it
needs endless preparation and instruction and big
leadership ~ none of which they possess. Regarding
[July '21, 1940
India they say the attitude of the present authority is
deplorable. Long ago India should have been declared
as independent as Canada, and her people should be
allowed to work out their own constitution. But
what they are extremely perplexed about now is
that you want absolute Independence straight away,
and the next step you will take is ‘ no further
help to Britain in the prosecution of war, surrender
to Germany, and opposition to her by non-violent
means. You must explain what you mean in more
detail so as to remove this misunderstanding. This
is an honest reaction.”
The appeal was intended to produce the effect
now. It could not come out of a mathematical
calculation. If the conviction could have come,
action was an easy matter. The mass mind
responds under pressure. That the appeal has
not produced the intended result shows that
either my word has no power or that God
has a purpose of which we have no knowledge.
The appeal has come from an anguished heart.
I could not suppress it. It was not written for
the moment, I am quite sure that it enunciates
a truth of eternal value.
If the ground is not] prepared from now, there
may be no time left after a dismal termination
of the war for evolving a new order. Whatever
the order, it will be in response to a conscious
or unconscious effort from now. Indeed the
effort began before my appeal. I hope that it
has stimulated it, perhaps given it a definite
direction. I suggest to the non-official leaders
and moulders of British opinion, if they are
convinced of the truth of my position, to work
for its adoption. Compared to the big issue
raised in my appeal, the question of Indian Inde-
pendence pales into insignificance. But I hold
with the two Englishmen that the British Govern-
ment’s attitude is deplorable. The two friends arc
wholly wrong in the deduction they have drawn
from the assumed recognition of India’s Independ-
ence. They forget that I am out of the picture.
Those who are responsible for the Working Com-
mittee’s last resolution have meant free India’s
co-operation with Britain. With them, there is
no question of surrender to Germany or non-
violent opposition.
But I must not here tarry on Indian
Independence and its implications, tempting
though the subject is.
The cuttings and correspondence before me
say that the Congress rejection of my advice
to abstain from preparation for military defence
of India precludes me from making the appeal
to Britain or from expecting a favourable
response. The argument is plausible, but only
plausible. The critics say that, if I have failed
with my people, I have no right to expect Bri-
tain whilst she is in the midst of a life and
death struggle to listen to me. I am a man
with a mission. India’s millions have never tasted
the bitters of war as the British have. Britain,
if she is to fulfil her declared purpose, needs a
radical change in her policy.. I feel that I know
JULY 21 , 1940 ]
KAmSAN
Zi’6
the change that is needed. My inability to per-
suade the Working Committee is irrelevant to
the theme under discussion. There is no analogy
between India’s case and Britain’s, I am there-
fore wholly unrepentant, I maintain that in
issuing my appeal I have acted wholly as a
lifelong friend of Britain.
A writer, however, retorts: ‘Address your
appeal to Hitler,’ In the first place, I did write
to Herr Hitler. My letter was published in the
press some time after 1 addressed it. In the
second place, there can be no meaning in my
appeal to Herr Hitler to adopt non-violence. He
is marching from victory to victory. I can only
appeal to him to desist. That I have done. But
to Britain, which is just now on the defensive,
I can present the really effective weapon of non -
violent non-cooperation. Let my method be re-
jected on merits, not by bringing inapt analogies
or untenable argument. The issue raised by me,
I venture to think, is of universal importance.
The usefulness of the non-violent method seems
to be granted by all the critics. They gratui-
tously assume the impossibility of human nature,
as it is constituted, responding to the strain
involved in non-violent preparation. But that is
begging the question. I say, ‘ You have never
tried the method on any scale. In so far as it
has been tried, it has shown promising results.’
Sevagram, 17-7-40
KHANSAHEB’S AHIMSA
CBy M, K. Gandhi}
In the storm that shook most of the members
of the Working Committee Khansaheb Abdul
Gaffar Khan stood firm as a rock. He had
never any doubt about his position, and his
statement which I reproduce below should serve
as a beacon light to all of us ;
" Some recent resolutions of the Congress Working
Committee indicate that they are restricting the use
of non-violence to the fight for India’s freedom
against constituted authority. How far and in what
manner this will have to be applied in the future
I cannot say. The near future will perhaps throw
light on this. Meanwhile it is difficult for me to
continue in the Congress Working Committee, and
I am resigning from it. I should like to make it
clear that the non-violence I have believed in -and
preached to my brethren of the Khudai Khidmatgars
is much wider. It affects all our life, and only this
has permanent value. Unless we learn this lesson
of non-violence fully we shall never do away
with the deadly feuds which have been the curse of
the people of the Frontier. Since we took to non-
violence and the Khudai Khidmatgars pledged them-
selves to it, we have largely succeeded in ending
these feuds. Non-violence has added greatly to the
courage of the Pathans. Because they were previ-
ously addicted to violence far more than others,
they have profited by non-violence much more. We
shall never really and effectively defend ourselves
except through non-violence. Khudai Khidmatgars must,
therefore, ’be. what our name implies — pure servants
of God and humanity — by laying down our own
lives and never taking any life.”
It is worthy of the Khansaheb and all that
he has stood for during the past twenty years.
He is a Pathan, and a Pathan may be said to
be born with a rifle or sword in his hand.
But the . Khansaheb deliberately asked his Khudai
Khidmatgars to shed all weapons when he asked
them to join the satyagraha against the Rowlatt
Act. He saw that this deliberate giving up of
the weapons of violence had a magical effect.
It was the only remedy for the blood-feuds
which were handed down from sire to son and
which had become part of the normal life of a
Pathan. They had decimated numerous families,
and non-violence seemed to the Khansaheb to
have come as a longed-for salvation. The violent
blood-feuds would otherwise have no end
and would spell the end of the Pathans. He
saw as clear as daylight that, if he could
persuade his people not to retaliate, the suicidal
feuds would cease and the Pathans would be
able to give a better account of their bravery.
They took up his message, and put into practice
what with them became non-violence of the
brave.
Being so clear about his own faith and that of
the Khudai Khidmatgars, there was^for him no
escape from resignation of his membership of the
Congress Working Committee. His continuing on
it would have been anomalous and might have
meant an end of his life’s work. He could not
ask his people to join as recruits in the army
and at the same time forget the law of tribal
retaliation. The simple Pathan would have argu-
ed with him — and the argument would have been
irresistible — that the present war was a war of
retaliation and revenge, and that there was no
difference between it and their blood-feuds.
I do not know how far the Khansaheb has
succeeded in carrying his message to his people*
This I know that with him non-violence is a
matter not of intellectual conviction but of
intuitive faith. Nothing can therefore shake it.
About his followers he cannot say how far they
will adhere to it. But that does not worry him.
He has to do his duty which he owes to them.
The result he leaves to God. He derives his
ahimsa from the Holy Quran. He is a devout
Mussalman. During his stay with me for over a year
I never saw him miss his Namaz (prayers) or his
Ramzan fast except when he was ill. But his
devotion to Islam docs not mean disrespect for
other faiths. He has read the Gita. His reading
is slight but selective, and he immediately
assimilates what appeals to him. He loathes long
argument and does not take long to make up
his mind. If he succeeds in'" his mission, it would
mean the solution of many another problem.
But the result no one can predict. ‘The lot is
cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord.’
Sevagram, 16-7-40 .
(Adapted from Gujarati)
214
HAEIJAN
THE BEST FIELD- FOR AHIMSA
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Last week I wrote about three fields for the
operation of ahimsa. I propose to invite attention
today to the fourth and the best field for the
operation of non-violence. This is the family
field, in a wider sense than the ordinary. Thus
members of an institution should be regarded as
a family. Non-violence as between the members
of such families should be easy to practise. If
that fails, it means that we have not developed
the capacity for pure non-violence. For the
love we have to practise towards our relatives
or colleagues in our family or institution, we
have to practise towards our foes, dacoits, etc. If
we fail in one case,:, success in the other is a chimera.
We have generally assumed that, though it
may not be possible to exercise non-violence in
the domestic field, it is possible to do so in the
political field. This has proved a pure delusion.
We have chosen to describe our methods adopt-
ed so far as non-violence, and thus caricatured
non-violence itself. If non-violence it was, it
was such poor stuff that it proved useless at the
critical moment. The alphabet of ahimsa is best
learnt in the domestic school, and I can say from
experience that, if we secure success there, we
are sure to do so everywhere else. For a non-
violent person the whole world is one family.
He will thus fear none, nor will others fear him.
It will be retorted that those who satisfy
such a test of non-violence will be few and far
between. It is quite likely, but that is no reply
to my proposition. Those who profess to believe
in non-violence should know the implications of
that belief. And if these scare them away, they
are* welcome to give up the belief. Now that
the Congress Working Committee has made the
position clear, it is necessary that those who
claim to believe in non-violence should know
what is expected of them. If, as a result, the
ranks of the non-violent army thin down, it
should not matter. An army, however small, of
truly non-violent soldiers is likely some day to
multiply itself. An army of those who are not
truly non-violent is never likely to yield any use
whether it increases or decreases.
Let no one understand from the foregoing that
a non-violent army is open only to those who
strictly enforce in their lives all the implications
of non-violence. It is open to all those who accept
the implications and make an ever-increasing
endeavour to observe them. There never will be
an army of perfectly non-violent people. It will
be formed of those who will honestly endeavour
to observe non-violence. For the last fifty years
I have striven to make my life increasingly non-
violent and to inspire my co-workers in the
same direction, and I think I have had a fair
amount of success. The growing darkness around,
far from damping my zeal and dimming my
faiths brightens them, and makes the implications
of non-violence more clearly visible to me.
Sevagxam^ 15-7-40 i Translated from Gujaratiy
[ July 21, 1940
THE CORRESPONDENCE
The following correspondence between Gandhiji
and His Excellency the Viceroy is released for
publication :
Gandhiji’s letter to Lord Linlithgow dated
Delhi, July 3:
“ You must have seen in the press my public
appeal to every Briton. Nevertheless, for the
sake of courtesy, I enclose herewith a copy.
You will note the last sentence of my appeal.
Will you please convey the contents of it to-
the proper quarters ? The appeal and the offer
at the end represent my personal and humble
contribution to Britain’s cause. It is the best I
could give.”
Lord Linlithgow’s letter to Gandhiji dated
Simla, July 10:
‘*I duly conveyed your letter of July 3 and your
appeal to His Majesty’s Government. I have now
heard from them that with every appreciation of
your motives they do not feel that the policy
which you advocate is one which it is possible
for them to consider, since in common with the
whole Empire they are firmly resolved to prosecute
the war to a victorious conclusion,”
The Annual Spinning Sacrifice
Shri Narandas Gandhi has issued his usual
appeal for intensive spinning during the 71 days
before my seventyfirst birthday. He began this,
way of celebrating it six years ago with an appeal
for 66 thousand yards. Last year he made an
appeal for 70 lakhs of yards, and the response
was beyond his expectation — over 4 crores of
yards of yarn were spun,
I commend his appeal to all. The response to
his appeal should increase with my increasing
years. If the annual quota of the National
School in Rajkot is any index, the response
would seem to be on the increase. But the
appetite of Daridranarayan is insatiable, and it
demands still greater response. It is a Herculean
task to liquidate the unemployment and starva-
tion of crores of people. Let me hope that
every lover of the wheel will contribute his or
her quota to this task and make the sacrifice
a worthy one. Let them approach the task
intelligently and with a proper regard for its
sacredness. Let them, therefore, devote not only
more time to spinning, but also endeavour to do
it better by keeping all their spinning tackle in-
proper trim, and thus increasing their speed. If
they will watch the revolutions of the spindle
and find out the secret of putting up the speed,
I am sure that at the end of the sacrifice
they will have nearly doubled the speed.
Se Vagram, 16-7-40 M. K. G.
( Abridged from Gujarati )
Autobiography
The long awaited one- volume cheaper edition of ■
Gandhiji’s The Story oj My Experiments with Truth
(Autobiography) has now been published by the
Navajivan Press, Kalupur, Ahmedabad. This edition
contains a few photographs which add to the valuer
of the book. Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extm.
Available at Harijan Ofiice — Poona . 4.
July 21, 1940 ]
215
HAEIJAN
QUESTION BOX
How to Cuittivate Ahimsa ?
Q, What is the good of your crying ‘ahimsa,
ahimsa * in season and out of season ? Will it
by itself teach people to be non-violent ? Would
it not be better, instead, to tell people how
pure ahimsa or the ahimsa of the strong can be
cultivated ?
A. Yours is a very timely and opportune
question. I have attempted before this on more
occasions than one to answer it. But my effort
has, I confess, been rather desultory. I have not
concentrated upon it, or given it the weight I
might have. This was all right while I was
devoting all my energy to forging means to give
battle to the Government. But it had the result
of retarding the growth of pure ahimsa, so that
today we are not even within ken of the ahimsa
of the strong. If we now want to advance fur-
ther, we ought, at least for some time,- to com-
pletely forget the idea of offering non-violent
resistance to constituted authority. If non-vio-
lence in the domestic field is successfully achieved,
we shall surely see the non-violence against
constituted authority revived in its purified
form, and it will be irresistible.
Now that I am no longer in the Congress, I
may not offer civil disobedience even in my own
person in its name. But I am certainly free to
offer civil disobedience in my individual capacity
whenever it may be necessary to. No one need
suppose that all civil disobedience will necessarily
be taboo while the country is still being educated
in the ahimsa of the strong. But those who
may want to join the non-violent force of my
conception should not entertain any immediate
prospect of civil disobedience. They should under-
stand that, so long as they have not realized
ahimsa in their own person in its pure form,
there can be no civil disobedience for them.
Let not the mention of pure ahimsa frighten
anybody. If we have. a clear conception of ic
and have a living faith in its matchless efficacy,
it will not be found to be so bard to practise
as it is sometimes supposed to be. It will be
well to remember the immortal Mahabharata
verse in this connection. The Seer Poet there-
in loudly proclaims to the whole world that
Dharma includes within itself both legitimate
-Artha and Kama, and asks why men do not
follow the royal road of Dharma that leads to
both earthly and spiritual bliss. Dharma here
does not signify mere observance of externals.
It signifies the way of truth and non-violence.
The scriptures have given us two immortal
maxims. One of these is: “ Ahimsa is the supreme
Law or Dharma"' The other is: “There is no
other Law ox, Dharma than truth-** These two
maxims provide us the key to all lawful Artha
and Kama. Why should we then hesitate to
act up to them? Strange as it may appear, the
fact remains that people find the easiest of things
'Oftentimes to be the most difficult to follow.
The reason, to borrow a term from the science
of physics, lies in our inertia. Physicists tell us
that inertia is an essential, and in its own place
a most useful, quality of matter. It is that
alone which steadies the universe and prevents
it from flying off at a tangent. But for it
the latter would be a chaos of motion. But
inertia becomes an incubus and a vice when
it ties the mind down to old ruts. It is
this kind of inertia which is responsible for
our rooted prejudice that to practise pure ahimsa
is difficult. It is up to us to get rid of this
incubus. The first step in this direction is firmly
to resolve that all untruth and hiinsa shall
her cafe er be taboo to us, whatever sacrifice it
might seem to involve. For, the good these
may seem to achieve is in appearance only, but
in reality it is deadly poison. If our resolve is
firm and our conviction clear, it would mean
half the battle won, and the practice of these
two qualities would come comparatively easy
to us.
Let us confine ourselves, to ahimsa. We have
all along regarded the spinning wheel, village crafts,
etc. as the pillars of ahimsa, and so indeed they
are. They must stand. But we have now to go
a step further. A votary of ahimsa will of
course base upon non-violence, if he has not
already done so, all his relations with his parents,
his children, his wife, his servants, his dependants,
etc. But the real test will come at the time of
political or communal disturbances or under the
menace of thieves and dacoits. Mere resolve to
lay down one’s life under the circumstances is
not enough. There must be the necessary qualifica-
tion for making the sacrifice. If I am a Hindu,
I must fraternise with the Mussalmans and the
rest. In my dealings with them I may not make
any distinction between my co-religionists and
. those who might belong to a different faith. I
would seek opportunities to serve them without
any feeling of fear or unnaturalness. The word
‘fear* can have no place in the dictionary of
ahimsa. Having thus qualified himself by his
selfless service, a votary of pure ahimsa will be
in a position to make a fit offering of himself
in a communal conflagration. Similarly, to meet
the menace of thieves and dacoits, he will need
to go among, and cultivate friendly relations
with, the communities from which thieves and
dacoits generally come.
A brilliant example of this kind of work is
provided by Ravishanker Maharaj. His work
among the criminal tribes in Gujarat has evoked
praise even of the Baroda State authorities.
There is an almost unlimited field for this kind
of work, and it does not call for any other talent
in one besides pure love. Ravishanker Maharaj
is an utter stranger to English. Even his know-
ledge of Gujarati is barely sufficient for everyday
use. But God has blessed him, with unlimited
neighbourly love. His simplicity, easily wins all
hearts, and is the envy of everybody. Let his
example provide a cue and inspiration to all
216
HABIJAN
i July 21, 1940
those who may be similarly engaged in other
fields of satyagraha.
Sevagram, 16-7-40
i Translated from Gujarati')
TRAVANCORE
( By M. K- Gandhi )
Some Travancoreans have thought I had neg-
lected them. But I had not. It is no pleasure
to me to criticise any State. Much of my work
is done by negotiation. I criticise when I must.
So when I was told by common friends that
Sir C P. Ramaswami Aiyar would like to meet
me if an opportunity occurred, I stopped all
reference to Travancore affairs. But the meeting
was not to be. In reply to my inquiry I have
the following extraordinary wire from him:
“ Have just received your telegram. In view deve-
lopments in India including your recent statement and
resolution of Working Committee with similar aims
though different programmes, and also having regard
to the close though unacknowledged connection
existing between many of the leaders of Travancore
State Congress and communist activities which have
come to light after arrest of K. C. George, and in
view of the openly hostile activities of Mr. T. M.
Verghese and of Mr. G. Ramachandran who has
been chosen by you to give advice as to Travancore,
no useful purpose is likely to be served by any
meeting. In these circumstances you are of course
free to comment on Travancore affairs, but it is
hoped that you will not accept versions furnished
by persons who are discredited here and who depend
for their influence, collection of funds, and their
political existence, on possibility . of getting periodical
statements from you on one-sided data furnished by
them. Most of the leading members of State Con-
gress including Messers V. K. Velayudhan, M. N.
Parameswaran Pillai and others have openly dis-
sociated themselves from State Congress activities.
They number over 60.”
I fail to see the connection between the
Working Committee’s resolution and my recent
statement on the one hand and Travancore
affairs on the other. The Working Committee
have not' even interested themselves in Travan-
corc affairs. The idea of our meeting did not
originate with me. Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar
thought of it months ago. Even a date was
fixed. But ' owing to a pressing engagement he
had to keep, our meeting was postponed. As
late as the 3rd of April he had wired saying
he was writing to me about the interview. Have
the' Working Committee’s resolution and my
statement’ so altered the situation that our meet-
ing has become undesirable? The other things
the worthy Dewan refers to are the very things
which would have made our meeting fruitful. He
had but to convince me that the State Congress
was involved in communist activities of a danger-
,ous nature, and I would have washed my hands
clean of the' local Congress and its doings. All
communism is not dangerous. I do not kno^
that Shri K. C. George is a communist. I warn
the Dewan against being prejudiced by the mere
name. I know many friends who delight ia
calling themselves communists. They are as harm-
less as a dove. I call myself a communist in
their company. The underlying belief of com-
munism is good and as old as the hills. But I
have strayed.
If Shri T. M, Verghese and Shri G. Rama-
chandran are untrustworthy, again our meeting
is necessary to convince me of their untrust-
worthiness. I must confess I have profound
admiration for their courage, self-sacrifice, ability
and integrity. Shri Ramachandran is an old
member of Sabarmati who has never given me
cause for distrusting him. Sir C. P. Ramaswami
Aiyar knows me enough to feel sure that I
would not hesitate to own my mistake if I
discovered it. It was his duty, as it still is, to
make an effort to convince me that the sources
of my information are tainted. The extraordi-
nary telegram has made me conclude that Sir
C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar has nothing against the
Congress or its members except that they are
patriots without reproach and without fear. He
hates their philosophy and seeks to crush them,
All the evidence in my possession points that
way, and the telegram confirms my impression.
I have made an offer which I repeat. Let
there be an impartial open inquiry into the
whole conduct of the State Congress and its
treatment by the State. Let the judge or judges
be outsiders of known integrity. I shall advise
the State Congress tO' accept the findings of
such a court.
If this simple offer is not accepted, I must be
pardoned for rejecting the interested denials by
officials of the State Congress allegations and
believing them and asking the public to do
likewise.
Sevagram, 17-7-40
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CONTENTS Page
Some Misconceptions ... M. D. 209
Unrepentant' ... M. K. Gandhi 212
Khansaheb’s Ahimsa ... M, K. Gandhi 213
The Best Field for Ahimsa M. K. Gandhi 214
The Correspondence .... . 2H
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 215
Travancore ... M. K. Gandhi 216
Notes:
Mysore Justice ... M. K. G. 211
■ The annual ’Spinning
Sacrifice M. K. G. 214
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SERVANTS OF INDIA SOCIETY
( By M. K. Gandhi )
I have avoided mention of the tragedy that
has overtaken Gokhale’s greatest creation. Through
the kindness of Pandit Kunzru I was kept
informed Oi every happening while the Society
was going through the agony. It was no small
matter for the Society to have to expel members
or to lose one of its oldest members by resig-
nation. The trouble had been brewing for many
months. But the chief members were putting
oflF what to them was the evil day. They tried
to bridge differences. They failed. They tried
to evolve discipline out of what had almost
become a state of anarchy.
The Society has a high ideal. To serve India
so as to purify politics and without a selfish
motive or the desire to attain power' for the
sake of it, is itself a noble ideal. Gokhalc creat-
ed a certain standard of conduct and tradition
for the Society. Those who could not carry it
out obviously should not seek to enter the
Society, or on having changed their viewpoint
after entering it, should not remain in it. Such
was the case with Shri Parulekar and Miss
Gokhale. They subscribe to a philosophy which
includes advocacy of violence for the redress of
wrongs economic, political and other. There was
no questioning their ability or their sacrifice.
Both are inestimable qualities no doubt. But
they were irrelevant to a consideration of con-
formity to certain tradition or discipline. The
quality of the tradition too would be irrelevant
to such consideration. So when the Society could
not induce these members to resign, it had to
perform the very painful duty of expelling them,
if the Society was to function as a properly
organised body with one purpose and one policy.
I know that the President and the other mem-
bers left no stone unturned to avoid the crisis.
They invited the associates to examine the whole
situation. The President put himself at their
disposal. And it was on their unanimous recom-
mendation that the Society took the final step.
So far as Shri Joshi is concerned it is wrong
to say, as has been said, that he was compelled
to resign. For valid reasons the President and
the Council thought ihit he should he trans-
ferred from Bombay. Shri Joshi, however, would
not move from Bombay, and resigned. And the
Society voted a pension and regretfully accepted
the resignation. Such is the unvarnished version
of the crisis through which the Society has passed. I
have felt it a duty to take notice of the incident
because there has been unkind criticism and
because I consider myself an unofficial and sleeping
member of the Society. The reader may not know
that immediately after the Chiefs death I might
have myself become a cause of a grave crisis.
My name was suggested for membership. Some
members were afraid of my entry as for them,
and truly, I was an unknown quantity. As soon
as I came to know of differences, I withdrew
my name, and everything went off happily. We
came closer to one another by this natural
restraint. How nice it would have been if Shri
Parulekar and Miss Gokhale had followed the
example set before them in 1915 ! If they have
the welfare of the Society at heart, they could
serve it in a variety of ways in matters in
which they have no differences of opinion.
Sevagram, 22-7-40
QUESTION BOX
C By M. K. Gandhi )
One More Faction ?
Q. Does not the resolution of the Working
Committee mean that it adds one more to the
existing factions?
A. I do not think there is room for such a
fear or doubt. Let us see what happens in the
A. I. C. C. If it is found that a large majority
of the members are believers in strict non-violence
I have no doubt that Sardar Vallabhbhai and
others will be extremely delighted. It was no
pleasure to them to arrive at the decision they
did, and they acted in their representative capa-
city. They acted in the belief that there were
very few Congressmen with a genuine faith in
non-violence, and they had sufficient reasons for
their belief. Had it been a question of their
individual belief, I am sure they would have
unhesitatingly voted for non-violence. Assuming,
therefore, that the truly non-violent are in a
minority, it will be their duty to leave the
Congress and thus serve the Congress all the
better. Their continuance in the Congress would
lead to friction, for the majority would, in
carrying out their policy, have to adopt many
resolutions which the followers of out and out
218
HARIJAN
[ July 28, 1940
non-violence could not accept. That would lead
to clashes which should be anything but non-
violence. The out and out non-violent, therefore,
will gladly retire and devote themselves exclu-
sively to constructive work. They will also co-
operate with the Congress wherever they can
do so without a clash, and yet they will not
think of being in any committee, I am firmly
of opinion that, if we can bring into being an
army of truly non-violent persons, the Working
Committee’s decision will be found to be a
blessing in disguise- If every province has its
band of truly non-violent soldiers, they will not
only add to the glory of the Congress but contri-
bute effectively to bringing the Congress nearer
to non-violence than ever before.
What Else Besides Spinning ?
Q. What work besides spinning can an active
satyagrahi do in cities, especially in Bombay?
A. I shall reply to your question by a cross-
question, Why do you want anything else be-
sides spinning? If you have no interest in spin-
ning, you can be no satyagrahi, active or passive.
For all satyagraha presupposes the qualification
of spinning, and this has been before the country
for twenty years. You can, therefore, do no
better than give all your spare time to spinning.
Do it in a scientific way. If there is no room
for a spinning wheel, you can ply the takli. A
way has now been devised for easily increasing
the speed on the takli. It costs a trifle, and it
can be plied in any little corner of the house.
If you are not doing your own carding, you must
do so now. You may have no space for a card-
ing bow in your room. You should in that case
card according to the Andhra method adapted
by Vinoba. If you can interest yourself in this,
it will add considerably to your useful knowledge.
When you come to think of the romance of cotton,
you will get out of it an interest the best novel
cannot give you, and you will probably discover
the solution of the problem of Indian poverty.
Therefore, if you want to be a true satyagrahi,
if you want to cultivate true ahimsa, I would
suggest to you spinning and nothing but spin-
ning, no matter where you may be. Take it
from me that without sacrificial spinning non-
violent Swaraj is impossible.
But if you have enough time on your hands
and you are already doing all the spinning that
would satisfy me, and if you are longing to do
some additional act of service, I can suggest
quite a number of things. For instance, there
is Harijan service. Try to enter Harijans’ life,
go and stay in Harijan quarters, teach them,
nurse those who are ill, show them the ways
and means of improving their economic condition.
All this offers a wide field of work. Thakkar
Bapa is now going to spend a lot of time in
Bombay. Go and seek his guidance.
Then J, would askj you to cultivate disinterested
friendship of the Mussalmans, Jt is likely that
you do not even know your next-door neighbours.
:Make their acquaintance and try to render what
service you can to them. If you do not know
those of other faiths, try to cultivate acquaintance
with them. Your contacts will be the test of
your broad-mindedness.
Then you can help in the khadi propaganda.
Go to Kakubhai of the main Khadi Bhandar in
Bombay and ask him if he can utilise your
services for khadi-hawking and similar work.
These are but a few samples. The field of ser-
vice is limitless. In a city like Bombay, especially,
the mountain of service is so immense that you
can never compass it.
Do Not Judge
Q. Many Congressmen in Bombay have joined
the Congress for the sake of offices. They never
spin. Some have spinning wheels in their homes
just for show. What about this?
A. Do not judge others. Be your own judge
and you will be truly happy. If you will try to
judge others, you are likely to burn your fingers.
If I Vv^ere secretary of a Congress committee,
I should see that those who do not observe
discipline are struck off the Congress register.
May Harijans Enlist as Recruits?
Q. I am a Harijan sevak. I believe in military
training. May I encourage Harijans to enlist as
recruits ? Those who join the army arc rid of
fear and untouchability and learn self-respect.
What is your advice?
A. You have gone to the wrong man with
this question. You know that I do not believe
in military training. Nor do I believe with you
that Harijans who join the army are so suddenly
transformed. But I should not make an attempt
to dissuade those Harijans who voluntarily want
to enlist as recruits. If sons of the well-to-do
go in for military training and if Harijans would
like to follow their example, how can I prevent
them ? It is a difficult thing any day to teach
the lesson of ahimsa. How can one inculcate
ahimsa to those who are doubly suppressed ?
The wonder to me is that even among the
suppressed there are some Harijans who have
truly learnt the lesson of ahimsa.
Chivalry v. Duty
Q. You have decided not to launch civil
disobedience in order that you may not embar-
rass the British when they are engaged in a
life and death struggle. Don’t you think this
chivalry is misplaced, and that you are failing
in your duty to carry on the fight for Swaraj?
A. I do not think so. If I were to launch
•civil disobedience, my ahimsa would be at fault,
and the disobedience would cease to be civil.
•I should never think of reaping Swaraj out of
British defeat. It would be anything tjut
chivalry. Mine is, therefore, not misplaced.
Chivalry is a vital part of ahimsa. Ahimsa
without it is lame, it cannot work.
Iinplicati<ms of Untouchability
Q. In satyagraha. camps there ofeen crops up
the question of the implications of untouchabi-
lity. In Bihar this certainly is the case. If
abolition of untouchability consists simply in
July 28, 1940 ]
HARIJAI5
219
touching the Harijans, untouchability does not
exist in Bihar, But if it includes letting the
Harijans use your water pot and exchange water
with non-Harijans, if it includes interdining and
allowing them to enter your dining room and
kitchen, even Congressmen are not free from
this untouchability. What do you say to this ?
A. Abolition of untouchability in me will be
really achieved only when I behave towards
Harijans as I should towards my own kith and
kin. There is no untouchability today in Con-
gress kitchens. And so if Congressmen in Bihar
observe untouchability as regards eating, I should
be disagreeably surprised. Believe me that Swaraj
will be delayed in proportion to our failure and
half- hearted ness in carrying out the different items
of the constructive programme. It is impossible
to attain Swaraj non-violently unless there is
self-purification. I do not often use this word
nowadays, but it is there in an important Con-
gress resolution. It has been a vital part of
Congress politics since 1920. Letters of the late
Pandit Motilalji and other leaders, written during
that period, are worth perusal. Their lives had
undergone a conversion. Have we descended
from that high pedestal?
Donation of Tainted Money
Q. Supposing a man has earned millions by
exploiting millions of his poor brethren and made
a gift of them to a Mahatma like you, and
supposing you use that money for the benefit
of humanity, is the exploiter absolved from
sin? Does not some blame attach to you too
for having accepted this ill-gotten wealth ? How
can one remain blameless in this unending
vicious circle? How is ahimsa to cope with
this immoral exploitation?
A. Let us assume for the purpose of this
riddle that I am really a Mahatma, and then
try to solve it. The gift of what you assume
to be ill-gotten gains cannot lessen the guilt of
the exploiter. If he had kept the money for
himself, that would have been an additional
count against him. If instead he makes a gift
of it to me from pure motives, he escapes
the additional sin. It is also likely that a good
use of his gift may wean the exploiter from
immoral means of making money. But no blame
attaches* to me for having accepted the gift.
As the foul waters from drains flowing into the
sea partake of its purity, even so docs tainted
wealth become pure when put to the purest
use. There is one condition, however, that we
have assumed, viz. that the gift is made and
accepted out of pii^e motives.
Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished
not by effecting the destruction of a few mil-
lionaires, but by removing the ignorance of the
poor and teaching them to non-cooperate with
their exploiters. That will convert the exploiters
also. I have even suggested that ultimately it
will lead to both being equal partners. Capital as
such is not evil ; it is its wrong use that is evil.
Capital in some form or other will always be needed.
A Flaw in Ahimsa
Q. You have appealed to Britons to lay down
arms and to adopt non-violence. But that raises
a moral difficulty. A’s ahimsa provokes B to
himsa and makes him impervious to appeal to
his heart. If a non-violent man comes up
against an inanimate thing, his non-violence will
have no effect on it. There is, therefore, some
flaw somewhere in your belief. It is likely that
ahimsa may have success in a restricted field. If
so, what use is it for universal purposes ? Your
claim, therefore, of its universal use falls to
the ground.
A. Ahimsa cannot be dismissed so lightly as
you think. Ahimsa is the strongest force known.
But if all can use the strongest force with equal
ease, it would lose its importance. We have not
been able yet to discover the true measure of
the innumerable properties of an article of daily
use like water. Some of its properties fill us
with wonder. Let us not, therefore, make light
of a force of the subtlest kind like ahimsa, and
let us try to discover its hidden power with
patience and faith. Within a brief space of
time we have carried to a fairly successful con-
clusion a great experiment in the use of this
force. As you know I have not set much store
by it. Indeed I have hesitated even to call it an
experiment in ahimsa. But according to the legend,
as Rama’s name was enough to float stones, even
so the movement carried on in the name of ahimsa
brought about a great awakening in the country
and carried us ahead. It is diflScult to forecast
the possibilities when men with unflinching faith
carry this experiment further forward. To say
that those who use violence are all insensible
is an exaggeration. Some do seem to lose their
senses, but we are bound to be mistaken if we
try to base a moral law on those exceptions.
The safest course is to lay down laws on the
strength of our usual experience, and our usual
experience is that in most cases non-violence
is the real antidote of violence, and it is safe
to infer from it that the highest violence can
be met by the highest non-violence.
But let us consider for a moment inanimate
objects. He will surely break his head who
strikes it against a stone. But supposing a stone
comes against us through space, we can escape
it by stepping aside, or if there is nowhere to
step aside, we can bravely stay where we are
and receive the stone. That will mean minimum
injury and, in case it proves fatal, the death will
not be as painful as it would be if we made
an effort to ward it off.
Extend the thought a little further, and it is
easy to see that, if a senseless man is left alone
and no one tries to resist him, he is sure to
exhaust himself. Indeed it is not quite inconceiv-
able that the loving sacrifice of many may
bring an insane man to his senses. Instances
are not wanting of absolutely insane people
having come back to their senses.
Sevagram, 22-7-40 ( Translated from Gujarati )
220 HARIJAN [ JULY 28, 1940
OPEN LETTER
Muttra, India
July 17, 19^10
My Dear Gandhiji,
After all these ni:;nlhs of hopeful expectancy and
suspense my i\Iis 3 ionary Bo.ird has at last cabled :
Your missionary efiecliveness seriously impaired,
making necessary v/ith regret immediate recall. ”
I had already contemplated ’vvriting you about your
recent stand, and now that the scene o£ our little
part in the coming ” War without V iolence is
about to change from India to the United States, I
v;ish more than ever :o do so. We arc accepting
it as God’s closing of one door and the opening of
another. We are content to trust His judgment as
to the “effectiveness” of our work here or there.
The present world is not in the mood to judge
effectiveness. As the great Lowell expressed it,
“ We see dimly in the present what is small
and what is great,
Slow of faith how weak an arm may turn
the iron helm of fate. ”
I am still hoping and praying daily that Congress
may see that its supreme opportunity is not to win
a doubtful political victory over a foe but, in an
hour like this, to win the lasting friendship of
all who love liberty, in England and in all the
world, by revealing the only adequate zeal for
India's defence or defence of democracy in the world —
the non-violent war to the finish against the zvliolc
stYuctnre of man's inhumanity to man. The com-
bined might of India, building a third-rate military
force, can at best but become the sport of force-
mad and damnably efficient international gangsters.
But defence committees and those who know no
better way should not be discouraged. What I do
mean is that, at the same time, those who under-
stand and love peace should build up a non-violent
defence force for the precise purpose for which mili-
tary force is being established. Like the military
forces, these should also be non-political and volun-
tary. Besides being negatively harmless to the in-
terests of the Defence of India, such a force should
at the very outset place itself at the disposal of the
Government for the purpose either of defence or
offence against all the foes of liberty in India or
elsewhere, as the non-violent army of India- The
great hope should be that such an army would lead
directly and speedily to the organization of a vast
Peace Army for the whole world. I believe that
there are hundreds in every land ready to flock to
the standards of such an army. Governments will
soon be in a mood to trust a force that has
already in many ways revealed itself as unconquer-
able. The need is urgent.
I think that this war has already revealed that
armed force cannot defend even the institutions of
democracy without first nullifying them and second
destroying them. Further, the very strongest military
defence force in the world has not been able to
make its nation secure in this war-mad world. I
am convinced that a non-violent war against all
aggression, the economic as well as the political, not
only will prove more effective than all the armies
but can very rapidly be made available, if the non-
violent of the world will but put their minds and
hearts to the matter. It matters not tliat they are
few. The first step is to approach the Viceroy for
his “Godspeed" to the movement. I believe it will
be readily forthcoming.
Is there any other way that the priceless treasures
of civilization can be preserved ? Military force cannot
save democracy because violence, even without being
overt, is the way to democracy’s demise. When it
becomes overt the process is but hastened. Because
present Western society is actually organized around
vlclence* not only is war inevitable, but democracy
had, before the outbreak of war, only a hollow pretence
of life. The violent society and its democracy were
in compatibles. Two ways have been found out of
this. The laying down of democratic institutions,
Fascism, and the laying down of violent organization,
Communism. But violent organization could not be
laid down with violent methods. The result is that
communism neither trusts life nor serves it at its
highest. It remains for the better way of Love for Life
to show that these priceless treasures of civilization,
liberty, equality of opportunity, justice and brother-
hood can be re-established. The world’s task is far
more than preserving this liberty. It is the task of
re-establishing liberties already dead in most of the
world, the task of bringing lliem out of our mouldy
parchments and enshrining them a, gain within our
hearts. We cannot at the same time defend our
liberties and defend our comfort and privileges. Defend-
ing liberties means essentially surrendering all advan-
tages over other people. Until we will do that, we
cannot say our struggle is sincere.-
Traditional democracy theoretically reserved the
right of violent rebellion to aggrieved people whose
will was no longer represented in their government.
But pure democracy must repudiate the violence, while
reserving the right of rebellion. This is because
violence, however employed, is the antithesis of
democracy, and cannot be indulged in without at
least temporary extinction. But non-violent resistance
to the foes of democracy, on the other hand, can
release the democratic spirit of mutual trust in friend
and foe alike. This has already been revealed again
and again in the non-violent warfare waged in the
interest of the national cause in India. As long as
the development of abolition in the United States re-
mained non-violent, as it did between 1830 and 1844
under a great saint, Theodore Dwight Weld, there
was always a liberal show of conversions among
slave-holders of the South, Furtlier than that it is
interesting to know that historically neither the free-
dom of the first thirteen colonies, nor that of the
American negro, was actually won by v;ar. The
war of rebellion only served to sover a connection.
There followed twentyfive years of worse slavery than
they had ever known and actual border bloodshed-
The way of freedom was a way of non-violent con-
stitutional advance, most remote from the method of war.
War had only produced confusion, strife and chaos.
The pertinent question about that war is : Could that
connection have been severed in a better way to
have avoided all that misery of a full quarter of a
July 28, 1840 ]
221
HASIJAl^
century. I believe that it could, had that way been
known. As for the American negroj he is still not
yet free. Such freedom as he now knows has been
wrought out since the Civil War, in the conquest
of non-violence over the violence in human hearts^
of both North and South. The most unyielding foe
this non-violence has had to face in all the years
since has been the bitter spirit of violence created
by defeat in war on one side and a towering desire
for revenge on the other, so intense it put the great
Lincoln to death because he sought the w^ay ci
reconciliation, I do not think there is a single
instance in history where defensive war has ever
settled the problems for which the defenders have
supposed they fought. But Denmark, on the other
hand, is the supreme illustration of a nation setting
itself on the road to liberty by the deliberate repu-
diation of the “ glory ” of imperial conquest or
defence of integrity.
Kristagraha has already taken its unequivocal stand
for the non-violence of Christ its Master, in its two
manifestos. It will perhaps be reviewing its stand
shortly in order to make its present position fully
clear in the face of the new turn of events, though
that may seem unnecessary. Many missionaries have
recently received copies of Memorandum A, under
which all non-British missionaries serve in India. It
was a surprise to most of them to note that the
Government had provided for them to “ influence ”
politics in the interest of assisting in the preservation
of the nation’s security and well-being. Here then, I
believe, is the supreme opportunity for Christian lovers
of freedom, missionary and non-missionary, to serve
their nation and the world while adhering to their
Master’s injunction not to take up the sword. I
can only say for myself that I am prepared to
surrender fulb’' to this great cause, and do hereby
pledge to follow your leadership if you decide to
launch the Satyagraha Army of the World. I do
this because I believe it is the only way that the
real aggression can ever be uprooted from its soil
in mankind’s unbrotherliness and the world estab-
lished on a basis of justice, equality and peace.
Whatever the ardent supporters of armed defence
maintain about the need to resist aggression or all
other foes of liberty, is true. I would not say to
them, “ Do not resist.” I VN^ould say, “ Resist with
the only finally effective method.” Both violence and
non-violence are methods only because overt. Both
are in reality something more psychological, inner,
more entrenched and serious. Violence is ** method ”
only because thought has found expression in its
deed. But it is first the thought that has divided
brother from brother. So also non-violence is method
only when thought has found expression in its deed.
But it is first and always essentially the thought
that unites brother to brother, even to enemy 1
Democracy is but a part of this essential non-violence.
Non-violence is, therefore, the only possible answer
to the violent structure of our present world. If
this organized structure of violence in thought and
life is not conquered, its violent deed, war, can
never end. This means an end of the present social
system so far as it is possible within it for anyone
to secure and maintain advantage or superiority of
opportunity. It is because these are the exact opposite
of democracy. The strange thing about this age is
that there are people who cannot see this truth
that you cannot have democracy and aristocracy in
the same place.
The war in 1914-18 produced the war ( its con-
tinuation ) in 1939 following. That sequence in
events is inevirable sc long as the non-violent war
against this violence in the present structure of
man’s thought and life is not carried to its ultimate
victory. Like domestic slavery of the last century,
this entrenched evil must be completely uprooted,
whatever the accompanying convulsions. Most of us
will not live to see the day of that final victory. It
is for us all to do that which God calls us to do
in our own day. We can all pray : “ I do not ask
to see the distant scene; one step enough for me. ”
We can well stake our future, our security and our
lives in this War without Violence', for without it
there will remain no civilization v/orth the name.
I can see no hope whatever in the way the
United States and England have so far taken. The
war of 1940 will never be won. Chaos can win
over order, barbarity over civilization, autocracy over
democracy, darkness over light, and violence over
goodwill. That has already transpired over a large
part of the world and is fast coming in the rest.
But generous application of goodwill can still arrest
this in every part, especially when men in large
numbers are ready to lay down their lives for the
Truth that is in them. They can reveal that the
Spirit-Dawn ” has already broken in the darkness
of the world’s present despair.
I pray that God may lead you in His own way.
You have countless friends encircling our earth.
Through the instrumentality of non-violent resistance
to the mountainous lovelessness and stupidity of our
age, the way may yet open into the new day and
a peace of full justice prevail among the nations.
With the deepest appreciation of your single-
minded devotion to Truth, and with the sincerest
afiTection, I am
Yours for the World Satyagraha Army,
Ralph T. Templin
[ I gladly publish this letter, Mr. Templin
represents a growing number of Western satya-
grahis. There are just two reflections arising out
of this letter. I wish to say that Denmark's is
not an illustration of non-violent action. It was
most probably the most prudent course to adopt.
When armed resistance is vain, it is folly to
spill blood. The second is that I do not expect
to lead any satyagraha army of the world. So
far as I can see at present, every country will
have to work out its own programme. Simul-
taneous action is possible,
Sevagram, 23-7-40 M. K- G. ]
The Power of Non-violence by Richard B. Gregg.
Rs. 2 + 7 As.
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radbakrishnan, (New Edition) Rs. S-10-0.
Postage 8 As. Available at Harijan office-Poona 4.
222
HARIJAN
NOT QUITE SO BAD
C By M. K. Gandk )
A friend quotes from a letter recei^ved from
an English friend :
“Do you think that Mahatma’s appeal to every
Briton is going’ to produce right reactions in the
mind or heart of a single Briton ? That appeal has
probably created more ill-will than anythiang else
recently. We live in astonishing and critical times,
and it is frightfully difficult to decide what should
be done. At any rate we should try to avoid
obvious dangers. So far as I can see, IMahatma s
unadulterated policy must inevitably lead to disaster
for India. How far he himself intends follo^ving it
I do not know, for he has a wonderful way of
adapting himself to his material.”
Well, I happen to know that many more
than one single heart have been touched by my
* Appeal to Every Briton I know that many
English friends were anxious for me to take
some such step. But I do not want to take
comfort from the approbation, however pleasing
in itself, of English friends. What is of value
for me is to know that at least one Englishman
thinks as stated in the extract. Such knowledge
should put me on my guard. It should make
me more careful, if possible, in the selection of
the words I use to express my thought. But no
displeasure even of the dearest friends can put
me off the duty I see clearly in front of me.
Aijd this duty of making the Appeal was so
peremptory that it was impossible for me to put
it off. As certain as I am writing this, the
world has to come to the state to which I have
invited Britain. Those who will be witnesses of
that happy and not far-off event will recall my
Appeal with gladness. I know that the Appeal
has hastened its advent.
Why should a single Briton resent an appeal
to him to be braver than he is, to be better
than he is in every respect ? He may plead
inability, but he cannot be displeased by an
appeal to his nobler nature.
Why should the Appeal breed any ill-will at
all ? There is no cause given for it by the
manner or the matter of the Appeal. 3 have
not advised cessation of fight. I have advised
lifting it to a plane worthy of human nature,
of the divinity man shares with God Himself.
If the hidden meaning of the remarks is that
by making the Appeal I have strengthened Nazi
hands, the suggestion does not bear scrutiny.
Herr Hitler can only be confounded by the adop-
tion by Britain of the novel method of fighting.
At one single stroke he will find that all his
tremendous armament has been put out of action.
A warrior lives on his wars whether offensive
[ July 28, 1940
or defensive. He suffers a collapse if he finds
that his warring capacity is unwanted.
My Appeal is not from a coward to brave
people to shed their bravery, nor is it a mockery
from a fair-weather friend to one in distress. I
suggest to the writer to re-read my Appeal in
the light of my explanation.
One thing Herr Hitler, as every critic, may
say. I am a fool without any knowledge of the
world or human nature. That would be a harm^
less certificate which need excite neither ill-will
nor anger. It would be harmless because I have
earned such certificates before now. This one
would be the latest of the many editions, and
I hope not the last, for my foolish experiments
have not yet ended.
So far as India is concerned, my unadulterated
policy can never harm her, if she adopts it. If
India as a whole rejects it, there can be no
harm accruing except to those who may foolishly
pursue it. The correspondent has lighted upon
my strong point when he says : “ Mahatma has
a wonderful way of adapting himself to his
material.” My instinctive knowledge of my
material has given me a faith which cannot be
moved. I feel within me that the material is
ready. My instinct has not betrayed me once.
But I must not build much upon past experience.
“One step enough for me.”
Sevagram, 24-7-40
A WORTHY EDUCATIONAL
EFFORT
{By M, K. Gandhi)
The Birla family have been running an insti-
tution called the Birla College at Pilani in Jaipur
State. I have been often asked to visit it, but
in spite of my keen desire to do so I have
never been able to find time for it. Thakkar
Bapa visited the institution and gave me a glow-
ing account and pressed me to visit it. Seth
Ghanshyamdas Birla has now issued a booklet
to acquaint the public about the origin and
growth of the institution. The object is to invite
criticism and to present the public with its
novel features, maybe for adoption. The writer
has lavished on the booklet all his art of writ-
ing, aided by fine printing, beautiful illustrations
alluringly arranged, making the whole thing very
attractive. For two months Mahadev waited for
a suitable opportunity to place it before me,
and imagining that I should have some spare time
on our journey to Simla he ventured to give
it to me on the train. The moment I took it
up to read, it gripped me. It is a quarto size
booklet of 47 pages, and I could not give it up
until I had read it from cover to cover. I would
ask all interested in education to write for it
to the Secretary of the Birla College. Pilani.
A brief history of the enterprise may be given
here. The institution has grown out of a small
school called Birla Pathshala opened 40 years ago
in an insignificant little building. Now it is a
big institution with an Intermediate College,
July 28, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
223
•splendid buildings for school, college and hostels,
and vast playgrounds. It has 33 staff quarters,
and 5 hostels accommodating 295 students ( in-
cluding 27 Harijans). There are 18 playgrounds,
a library with 3,608 Hindi and 6,772 English
books. There is a high school with 791 boys,
a college with 165 boys, and a girls school with
157 girls. The Birla Educational Trust runs be-
sides 128 village schools with 4,636 boys and 200
girls. Physical instruction and games are com-
pulsory, and so is music. There is an agricul-
tural farm with a dairy on modern lines. Among
the crafts and vocations taught are spinning
and weaving, carpentry, tailoring, dyeing, print-
ing, book-binding, weaving, carpet-making, shoe-
making and leatherwork. The agricultural farm
and dairy have numerous cows, sheep and goats.
The basic education scheme is also being given a
trial. Hardly anything has escaped the attention
of those in charge — prayer, intellectual and indus-
trial training, balanced diet, health examination,
and health preservation. An endeavour is made to
develop individual contact between the students
and teachers on a family basis.
The whole institution has grown out of Seth
Shivnarayanji Birla s desire to provide for the
•education of his two grandsons Rameshwardas
and Ghanshyamdas. He did not like the provi-
sion to be confined to the needs o£ his grand-
•sons, and so he established a school in 1900 with
a village teacher on Rs, 5 a month for all the
children of the village. This was called the
Birla Pathshala — the seed out of which has
grown the vast tree that the institution now has
become. It combines family interests with philan-
thropy which has now become a distinctive
trait of the Birla brothers. But Ghanshyamdas,
of all the brothers, made a special interest of
education, health and kindred topics, and the
growth of the institution at Pilani is mainly due
to his perseverance, resourcefulness, and interest
in education. Sir Maurice Gwyer and other
.distinguished people have visited the institution
and spoken in high terms about it. Ghanshyam-
dasji’s ambition is to make a Degree College of
the Intermediate College, and he has been trying
to do so for some years. But things move
slowly in Princes' India, and so his ambition
still remains unfulfilled. It is hoped that the
Jaipur State will lose no time in encouraging
this worthy enterprise and accord permission to
turn it into a full-fledged college. In my opinion
there arc few institutions in India run with such
oare and attention. If we assume the necessity
for modern colleges, the Birla college has suc-
ceeded in combining several features which are
scarcely to be seen elsewhere in India.
Sevagram, 15-7-40
( Translated fr om Gujarati )
Autobiography
The long awaited one- volume cheaper edition of
Gandhiji’s The Story of My Expenments with Truth
( Autobiography ) has now been published by the
Navajivan Press, Kalupur, Ahmedabad.
Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4.
TWO JUST COMPLAINTS
( 3y M. K. Gandhi )
I
Right of Translation
A Calcutta telegram protests against the reser-
vation of copyright in translations of my Gujarati
articles, saying that my articles are the property
of the nation and therefore there could be no
copyright in them, and that I myself had taught
that Hindustani v/as the lingua franca of India, and
that I should therefore reconsider my decision. This
grievance appears on the face of it to be just.
But it is forgotten that I have prohibited trans-
lation from Gujarati into all other languages.
Experience had taught me that English transla-
tions of my articles written in any Indian lan-
guages were faulty, but it would not have been
proper to confine the copyright to translations
into English. All important Gujarati articles
would be translated simultaneously into English
and Hindustani and published almost the same time.
There is, therefore, no hardship involved, for
there is no copyright in the translated articles
which can be and are being reproduced.
My object was clear and unexceptionable. If
I wanted to enter the hearts of the Indian masses,
I should write in an Indian language, and that
language could be no other than that in which
I could write with the greatest ease. If I had
the same command over Hindustani as over
Gujarati, I should have written only in Hindustani.
II
Are Gujaratis More Non-violent?
The other complaint is this:
“You could not have begun to write in Gujarati
out of your partiality for Gujarat, but it would seem
as though you believed that you would be able to
influence the Gujaratis more quickly than others.
That is to say, you have assumed that they are
more non-violent -than others. I doubt that they are.
You may have more workers in Gujarat, but you
do not seem to have a greater hold on the Gujarati
than on other masses. Belief in non-violence, you
have always emphasised, presupposes removal of
untouchability and universalisation of khadi. Now I
suggest that no other province in India has the
curse of untouchability to the extent that one finds
in your Gujarat, especially your beloved Kathiawad.
Indeed we have heard you have expressed this opi-
nion. Again according to you khadi fares no better
there. Gujarat is the seat of the textile industry. I
admit that the large number of workers in Gujarat
are all khadi-lovers and they have all personally
shed untouchability. But my complaint is against
the masses in Gujarat. Where the masses are not
ready, what hope is there of your influencing them
more than others? Why not, therefore, address the
Indian masses in your imperfect Hindustani than in
your more perfect Gujarati ? For the number of
Hindustani-knowing masses is much larger than the
Gujaratis, and I make bold to say that your- influ-
ence on them is certainly the same as on the
Gujaratis, if not even greater.*’
224
HARIJAN
L July 28, 1940
This complaint is couched in sweet Hindu-
stani and made in all sincerity. I have summa-
rised it in my. own words. The correspondent
will, I hope, admit that in doing so I have not
only not been unfair to him, but have even put
his argument more forcefully. This I have done
with a purpose as my reply to him will reveal.
I claim that consciousness on my part of my
belonging to Gujarat has never meant any ex-
clusiveness. I have always believed and described
myself as an Indian. When I went to South
Africa I found that there were divisions among
our countrymen into Tamils, Telugus and
Gujaratis. Immediately on my landing I abolish-
ed the divisions. For myself I knew that all
the immigrants from India were Indians, and
that provincial or religious divisions between them
were improper. It was true that they belonged
to different provinces and to different faiths
and that they spoke different languages, but all
belonged to the same country, all had the same
joys and sorrows, and all were under the same
alien rule. Besides even the people of the country
where they had gone did not know and did not
recognise the distinctions of caste, religion, langu-
age or province- To them we were all Indians,
all coolies, all samis, and all to be governed by
the same law. We have ceased to be called
coolies and samis^ but we have not ceased to
be Indians, Thus alike by temperament and from
experience I have been against these divisions,
as I think everyone should be.
Nevertheless when I begin to think in terms
of the talents God has given me and of the use
I should make of them for the service of the
motherland, I cannot afford to ignore the pro-
vince of my birth- As Gujarati is my mother-
tongue and as I know the Gujaratis more inti-
mately, I could serve India best through Gujarat
and the Gujarati language. It was this consi-
deration that was at the back of the choice of
Gujarat as my place of abode on my return
from South Africa., But I deliberately did not
choose Porbandar or Rajkot, though I had in-
vitations from and facilities in both the places.
For I had ceased to belong to Porbandar and
Rajkot, ceased to belong to my caste. My choice
has been proved to be cent per cent right. It
could not be otherwise, as I believe that my
footsteps are guided by God, and all my life
is based on this belief.
If the argument presented above appeals to
the reader and to the co-worker who has made
the complaint in Question, I need not labour it
any more. But something more I must say for
the sake of the work I want from Gujarat and
from the other provinces of India.
I do not enjoy elsewhere the same intimacy
and extent of contact as I do with the Gujarati
workers. And so if I succeed with them, I
should have confidence regarding the rest of India.
Some of them believe that I should again fix
up my abode in Gujarat, but I do not think
so. If I stayed in their midst, they would lose
initiative, and cease to work independently.
They have a tried leader like the Sardar to
guide them at every step, and I feel that if I
stayed in Gujarat my talents would not be put
to the fullest possible use. It is God who has
guided my steps to Sevagram. It may be a
difficult field of work. If it is, surely I may
not shirk it, Seay in Sevagram has taught me,
is teaching me, a lot that is new. If I can be
one with its six hundred souls, if I can engage
them in constructive work and in the necessary
work of reform, and if I can easily make a
satyagrahi army of them, I should discover the
key to do the same work in the whole of
India. If I chose a big city, I should get lost,
puzcled and perplexed. Much of what has been
done and planned in Sevagram has been done
from the point of view of India. It is, there-
fore, but meet that I must deliver my message
through Sevagram and in Gujarati.
There is one fact which can upset the plan
of burying myself in Sevagram. The Khansaheb
can summon me to his province whenever he
likes for his work, which indeed is also ray
work. If he succeeds in expressing real ahirasa, I
firmly believe that the wliole country can suc-
ceed. For the experiment there is out and out
that of iion-violencc of the brave. God alone
knows whether it will or will not succeed. This
I know that wherever I go 1 will do His work,
I regard the winning of Indian Independence by
non-violent means as God’s own work, and if
that is achieved, the whole world would be
saved from being drowned in a sea of bloodshed.
The reader will now see that I am prompted
by partiality for neither Gujarat nor anything
else. If there is any partiality, it is for UTM
and NON-VIOLENCE. It is through these that
I can have some glimpse of God, Truth and
non-violence are my God. They are the obverse
and reverse of the same coin.
My co-worker’s complaint is true that in the
abolition of untouchabiliLy and in love of khadi
Gujarat lags behind other provinces. But that
does not mean that I should leave Gujarat alone.
If these two items cannot be accomplished in
Gujarat, Gujarat will be an obstacle to the
Independence of India. If I can inspire the
Gujaratis to lay down their lives for the aboli-
tion of the curses of untouchability and un-
employment, what a glorious thing it would be!
It would be a sight for all India to see and
copy. Hindu-Muslim troubles would automati-
cally come to an end, for the moment we cast
out untouchability from our hearts Hindu-Muslim
unity will be an accomplished fact and many
another good thing would follow as a matter
of course.
All this is only a dream today. But it is in
order to realise that dream that I have under-
taken in my old age this Gujarati enterprise.
If it is God’s will thus to take work from me^
age will be no bar.
Sevagram, 22-7-40
i Translated from Gujarati^
JULY 28, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
225
TRAVANCORE
(.By M. K. Gandhi )
In the hope of having a talk with Sir C. P.
Ramaswami Aiyar and possibly arriving at some
way out of the impasse, I was suppressing the
manifestos sent to me by succeeding acting
Presidents. The last received was from Shri
Achutban, a Harijan advocate, about the last
week of June. From the manifesto I extract
only statements of facts, omitting as far as
possible all argument and inferences:
“Processions and meetings have been violently
broken up by the special police and the oidinary
police without even the semblance of prohibitory
orders. To quote from the speech of Shri
K. Santhanam M. L. A. (Central) which he delivered
at Madras after a brief visit to Travancore, he
said: 'My impression is there is police raj in
Travancore. No one could speak with any sense of
security or discuss matters even with friends. The
■Government appear determined not to allow any
discussion on responsible government, and are willing
to resort to any methods to prevent it. All normal
channels of public expression have been stopped.”
Repression has worked ruthlessly along three main
lines : 1 Legal terrorism, 2 Police terrorism, 3
Complete muzzling of the Press.
1. Legal terrorism has taken the shape of ‘ the
Defence of Travancore Proclamation It is not the
actual number of those arrested and detained for
indefinite periods under this Act, but the threat of
it against every man and woman with any active
sympathy towards the State Congress that has
created a grave situation. Several people have been
arrested under this Act and then let off, just to
show that the authorities can do anything with
anybody. Many important leaders have been imprison-
ed under this Act without trial and for indefinite
periods.
2. Police terrorism has meant more than what
will be ordinarily understood by that term. In
Travancore it has meant more than the forcible dis-
persal of processions and meetings. It has meant
■secret as well as open goondaism by what are called
the special police who wear no uniforms and who
get only Rs. 5 a month. This body of special police
contains in many cases the worst rowdies and
drunkards in various localities. Their special busi-
ness is to quietly mix with the crowds and start
sudden goondaism. It has become physically im-
possible to hold any decent meeting or procession or
demonstration in the face ©f such goondaism. In
Neyyattinkara, Alleppey, Palai, Karunagapilly and
many other places such goondaism has appeared
openly.
3. Muzzling of the Press. No doubt there are
several papers in Travancore which appear regularly.
Not one of them would publish reports or news of
State Congress meetings and demonstrations. State-
ments issued by Acting Presidents of the State
Congress or by State Congress leaders never appear
in them. In many cases people in one part of the
State never knew anything of what happened in
^auother part except from news appearing in the
English papers at Madras. This was proved when
police frightfulness occurred in Nsy^’attinkara and Palai.
Bur the Travancore Government did net rest con-
tent V)7ith the above items of repression. Every officer
from the highest to the lowest went about the
country treating every State Congressman or sympa-
thiser not merely as one belonging to a disturbing'
political party but as an enemy to be hunted down
by every means ir: their power. Another severe trial
for those engaged in the struggle has been police
'/iolenco in iock-ups. Volunteers who are under arrest
and awaiting trial are rnsrcilessly beaten and very
often discharged after several weeks of detention
without trial.
Every time State Congress leaders published allega-
tions against the Travancore police, the Govern-
ment as often came out with categorical and whole-
sale denials. But Shri G. Ramachandran’s specific
allegations regarding police terrorism at Neyyattinkara
and Palai published in The Hindu of Madras
supported by unimpeachable data have at last com-
pelled the Government to order an official enquiry.
It is significant that the enquiry has been ordered
long after the Government had published categorical
and wholesale denials of the allegation ! The public
are still awaiting the findings of the enquiry.
The most disquieting development in the present
situation has yet to be related. This is the direct and
open encouragement given to the various communal
organisations in Travancore by the authorities
including the Dewan, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar
himself. At one time Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar
used to say that it was the presence of various
communal organisations in Travancore which prevented
him from inaugurating any scheme of responsible
Government in Travancore. But today his policy
clearly appears to be to encourage each and every
communal organisation to develop along separate lines
and thus make political unity impossible. Officers of
Government including the Dewan take part in
meetings of the various communal organisations.
Lovers of Travancore know that, if this process is
allowed to continue, Travancore will soon become
a battle ground for the various communal organi-
sations. ”
I know that there will be an official contra-
diction. I have already suggested that such con-
tradictions can have no value unless they are
backed by a definite promise of an impartial
inquiry. Officials stake nothing when they
issue unprovable contradictions, whereas State
Congress Presidents stake their liberty and the
prestige of their institution when they make
rash statements.
The balance of probability, therefore, must be
in their favour. The quotation given by Shri
Achutban from Shri Santhanam’s speech in his
support is not to be lightly brushed aside.
I sent a copy of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar s
v;ire to Shri Ramacliandran. He sends a comment
from which I take the following :
“ I can show that our Working Committee kept
‘ communist tendencies ’ clearly and absolutely out
of the struggle, Mr. K. C. George who is referred
HABIJAN [ July 28, 1940
to was one of the severest critics of our Working THE JOURNEY BACK
Committee, and considered our work and programme “ Theisrs Not to Reason Why
as thoroughly useless ... It is absolutely false to say Gandhiji did not prolong his stay at Simla
that we depend on Bapu’s periodical statements for for a minute longer than was absolutely neces.
collecting our funds and for our existence. If this sary for the Viceregal appointment, and left for
were so, there should be today no State Congress. Delhi the same evening. The idea was to take
During the last eight or nine months Bapu has not from Delhi the next train to Wardha. This-
said a word about Travancore. Our cause is so would have meant four consecutive nights of
patently just that it does not depend even on tiring train journey. But the urge to be back
Bapu. It depends on its own inherent justice. Bapu in Sevagram with the least delay was irresistible,
can of course help our cause. But that is different Providence, however, the unpredictable ‘fifth
from saying that our movement depends on Bapu....
Most of the leading members of the Travancore
State Congress including Shri V. K. Velayudhan and
M. N. Parameswaran Pillai and others have openly
dissociated themselves, says Sir C. P. Yes, these
two gentlemen have done so. But neither of them
has said that the State Congress is in the wrong.
Shri Velayudhan stated that he withdrew in obedi-
ence to the Mandali of the Ezhava communal
organisation which has now been captured by the
friends of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar. Shri M. N-
Parameswaran Pillai has nearly apologised and
recovered his sannad to practise law. How do these
actions touch the demand and the programme and
the stand of the State Congress ? But besides these
two gentlemen no prominent leader of the State
Congress has gone back in any sense. The number
60 requires close analysis Then there is my
second statement on the Palai atrocities which
The Hindu published and a copy of which I
am enclosing. It was then stated on behalf of the
Travancore Government that there would be an
official enquiry and a press communique. It is
weeks now since this appeared, and no enquiry or
communique has been heard of. It was a tight corner
into which the Travancore Government was pushed
by specific and unchallengeable allegations. They had
denied everything in their first communique. Then
when I replied, they said there would be an enquiry
and a communique. But nothing has happened yet.
I believe every word of what Shri Rama-
chandran says. The terrible repression may thin
the ranks of the State Congress. But even if
there is one true representative left to hold
aloft the torch of npn-violent liberty, he will
be quite enough to multiply himself till every
Travancorean becomes an apostle of life-giving
freedom, A friend sent me the other day a
hon mot of an American President : “ One true
man of courage represents a majority.” I have
quoted from memory. But there is no mistake
about the meaning. Let every member of the
State Congress take it to heart, and believe that
nothing is lost if one true man survives the
repression. As it is I know that there are
numerous men and women of the State Congress
who are seasoned enough to stand the most
rigorous repression that the wit of the resource-
ful Dewan of Travancore and his advisers can
devise. Sevagram, 23-7-40
Issues of Vols. I to VI of Harijan, with certain
^exceptions, can be had from us for 3 As. per copy
(including postage). Issues of Vol. VIII will be
‘had at the published price plus * postage. MANAGER"
cause’ as the Gita calls it, once more upset his
man-made plans. He had suggested to the
Maulana Saheb to call a meeting of the Work-
ing Committee at Wardha at the earliest, and
the Maulana Saheb had agreed to have it on
the 4th inst., but later he changed his mind
and sent a message over the phone from
Nainital that, if Gandhiji could at all have it,
he would like the Working Committee to be
held at Delhi on the 3rd. Gandhiji felt the
choice of the venue to be unhappy. New Delhi
was synonymous with ‘ high politics and an emer-
gency meeting of the Working Committee held
there at this juncture would naturally give rise
to all sorts of unwarranted popular expectations-
and speculations which it was best in the
country’s interests to avoid. But the President’s
orders were orders and must be obeyed. Gandhiji;
reiterated to himself his favourite line from Tenny-
son ‘ Theirs is not to reason why ’, and reconciled
himself to the altered plan unreservedly.
Sweet Old Memories
With all its sins of omission and commission
Delhi to Gandhiji can never cease to be the city
of the late Hakim Ajmal Khan Saheb, the late*
Dr, Ansari, and the Ali Brothers who symbolised
in their persons Hindu-Muslim unity in the hey-
day of the non-cooperation movement. Before
leaving for Simla, Zohra Begum Ansari, the late
Doctor Saheb’s daughter, and her husband Dr.
Shaukat Ullah Ansari had insisted on Gandhijjf
being their guest for a day on his return. Gandhiji
unhesitantly complied with the request, and it
was to their residence that he motored straight
from the station. Before leaving Delhi he had,
too, the privilege of a prolonged visit lasting
for nearly one hour to Begum Mohamed Ali
who had been ailing for some time. It was of
too sacred and personal a character to bear
detailed description here. It should be enough
to mention here that it recalled some of the
sweetest memories of good old times when the
whole of India stood united as one man in the
fight for freedom.
No C. D., No Spinnipg?
Shri Brijkrishna Chandiwala has organised a
small spinning club in Delhi. The opening cere-
mony was performed on the 26th of January last
by Shrimati Kasturba Gandhi. The rules of the
club require each member to wear khadi exclu-
sively and propagate the same, and to contribute
a monthly quota of 1,000 yards to the club. At
Shri Brijkrishna’s request Gandhiji bad promised
JULY 28, 1940 ]
HARIJA'N
227
to give them five minutes, but he actually gave
them half an hour which he devoted to spin-
ning himself with the members. One of the
members asked Gandhiji the question : “ Why
should we spin now that there is no definite
civil disobedience in the offing ? Some satya-
grahis have actually given up spinning since civil
disobedience has receded into the background.”
^‘That to me shov/s,” replied Gandhiji, “ that they
would have made but poor satyagrahis, and it is
for the best that they have dropped out. I doubt
if these ‘fair-weather’ customers could be good for
anything. For good or for ill. we have adopted the
spinning wheel as the weapon for our non-violent
struggle. A soldier who will practise his
weapons only when action is in sight will surely
come a cropper at the time of the test. A
satyagrahi soldier always looks and plans far
ahead of him. If we have faith in the efficacy
of the weapon we have chosen, we shall never
give it up or lay it down but keep it always
Tefurbished and ready. Today our non-violence
is on its trial. The Working Committee's
resolution is based on the assumption that the
country is today not ready for the practice of
pure ahimsa. They would be but too glad to
discover that their assumption was wrong and
revise their decision accordingly. It is for those
who have a living faith in non-violence to
prove the same and convert the Working
Committee to their view instead of catching at
the first excuse to resile , from their faith. If
the fiftytwo members who are on the register
of your club have the right faith in them,
they will soon multiply into fiftytwo hundred.
But mere shilly-shallying won’t do. ‘ If the salt
loseth its savour, wherewith shall it be salted ?’
“ I have not a shadow of doubt that
through the spinning wheel we can develop the
non-violence of the strong which recks ^no odds
however overwhelming and knows no defeat.
Weapons forged out of iron and steel do not
interest me. They might enable you to scatter
death over the enemy and to capture a measure
of the power he today wields over you. But that
will not leave the masses any the better. They
will continue to groan under the yoke of the
powerful and the mighty, I am not interested
in an order which leaves out the weakest — the
blind, the halt and the maimed. My Swaraj is
even for the least in the land. This can come
only through non-violence.
“Non-violence of the weak is bad. But
violence of the impotent — impotent violence —
is worse. That is w'hat is today vitiating the
atmosphere. Mere spinning a la mode will not
purge the atmosphere of this poison.”
Discipline v. Faith
Another member of the club remarked that
they could not pretend to have a faith in the
spinning wheel which Gandhiji had, but they
were prepared to spin for discipline, which was
<^uite honest a stand to take up, Gandhiji,
^hile admitting that spinning for discipline ‘ had
value at one time, contended that it was alto-
gether inadequate to the need of the hour
today. To create a truly non-violent atmosphere
in the country spinning with faith was neces-
sary. Supposing there were riots imperilling the
lives of thousands of innocent women and
children and the conflagration threatened to
spread over the whole country, it would be up
to those who had true faith in non-violence to
interpose themselves between the lust-maddened
rioters and quell their fury by their self-immo-
lation. Spinning for discipline will not' give
them that faith.”
“ Discipline,” he continued, has a place in
non-violent strategy, but much more is required.
In a satyagraha army everybody is a soldier and
a servant. But at a pinch every satyagrahi
soldier has also to be his own general and
leader. Mere discipline cannot make for leader-
ship. The latter [ calls for faith and vision. That
is why I have said that spinning for discipline,
whatever else it might be capable of achieving,
cannot help us to win the satyagraha fight
which requires the non-violence of the strong.”
Under Thakkar Bapa’s Wing
The Harijan Industrial Home at Kingsway,
nestling under the fostering wing of Thakkar
Bapa, is another redeeming feature of the Impe-
rial City, and claimed from Gandhiji two casual
visits. The second occasion was at the time of
the evening prayer in which Gandhiji joined. He
was much impressed by the progress that the
boys had made in the recitation of the prayer
verses and their correct pronunciation. At the
end he addressed them a few words to commend
to them the practice of regularly congregating
at the morning and evening prayer. “There can
be no better cement to weld scattered and
isolated units into a homogeneous society than
heart-union through prayer. It purifies us and
gives us the true strength — the strength that
comes from purity and high resolve. May God
bless you with both in an ample measure. ”
A Pertinacious Questioner
A little girl asked Gandhiji the question as to
how satyagraha could avail against raiders from
the sky who would deal death from above and
with whom the satyagrahis would not be able
even to make contact. “By dying non-violently
rather than submitting,” replied Gandhiji. “But
who will then live to enjoy freedom?” asked the
pertinacious little questioner. “ The survivors,
if there are any,” replied Gandhiji. “ But may
I put you a counter- question ?” he continued.
“Who enjoys the freedom when whole divisions
of armed soldiers rush into a hail-storm of bul-
lets to be mown down? Why, those who might
succeed in capturing the citadel by passing over
their dead bodies. The soldier who fights never
expects to enjoy the fruits of victory. But in
the case of non-violence, everybody seems to
start with the assumption that the non-violciit
method must be set down as a failure unless he
himself at least lives to enjoy the success thereof.
228
HAEIJAl^
[ July 28, 1940
This is both illogical and invidious. In satyagraha
niore than in armed warfare, it may be said
that we find life by losing it.”
Back to Sevagi'am
Th-e bulk of the time in Delhi was. of
course, taken up by me Working Committee s
deliberations which were both long and arduous.
We entrained for the journey back to Sevagram
on the evening of the 7th. Almost the first
question which Gandhi ji was asked at a wayside
station was whether the Working Committee had
given the go-bye to non-violence and whether
people were now expected to c:;change the
rifle for satyagraha and offer themselves as tne
King’s recruits. Gandhiji had gone off to sleep
when the train made the next considerable halt.
A swarm of people gathered at the window
and began to ask, “ Why is not Mahatmaji,
according to his wont, asking for contributions
for the Harijans ? ” I told them that he was
too tired to keep awake at that hour, but he
expected them just the same to contribute their
mite to the Harijan cause. A gleam of satisfac-
tion lit up their faces at the remark, and almost
to the man they contributed generously to the
Harijan fund.
Sevagram, 17-7-40 Pyarelal
Notes
about the defence of India. Even if I believed '
in armed defence. I should never v/ant a foreign i
general to lead my army. I ina:?* have foreign ;
instructors but nor officers. If, therefore, Dr. *
Eddy secs these lines, and instead of collecting
himself persists in his statement, I can only say y
I must have been absent-minded when I made 1,
the statement imputed to me. I cannot say I
must have been drunk, because I do not drink. :
Sevagram, 16-7-40 M. K. G.
Our Textile Wants
I summarise the following from an article of
Shri Vinoha in the Marathi Gram-Seva-Vniia of
Wardba : !
“ Ten or twelve years ago* India consumed U :
yards of cloth per head. Now it is reckoned at 16 |
or 17. A mocleiatc standard demands the consumpticn I
to be raised to 20. Pt. Jawaharlal would like to ’
raise it to 30. '
f
It is necesfaty to consider this question from a
different standpoint. A rise from 14 to 16 does not j
necessarily mean that the consumer is now more I
‘cloth-ful’ than belore. Per clotli-fuincss does not I
depend upon the total length of cloth used in the I
year, but upon the number of forms in which it j
has been used simultaneously. Thus, for instance, if j
A has used ore pair of geed stout dhotis (10 ^ards) |
during the year, while B has used two pairs
( 20 yards ) of less durable ones, apparently B’s
consumption is twice , that of A. But if both of
them have used only one pair at a time, it has not
made B more * cloth-ful ’ than A.
Impossible
Miss Muriel Lester writes :
“See how you are misquoted by Sherwood Eddy
in his latest book 1 Saw God Do It, I have been
So it is necessary to mention not only how
much yardage is consumed per head per annum, but
also of what durability, and in fixing the standard
of rainimum textile want, both the dimensions should
be mentioned, i. e. 15 yards of 12 months’ durability.
asked to send you this cutting from it so that you
may reply to it if you want to. Here is the extract:
*We have maintained throughout this chapter that
some are called to be conscientious objectors as abso-
lute pacifists to challenge the whole war system, but
that the majority will feel it to be their duty forci-
bly to defend their country when it is attacked or
its vital interests are threatened. Gandhi himself,
the most effective and the greatest living pacifist, is
not an absolutist but a relativist, a realist and, to
a large degree, a practical statesman. He is effec-
tively using non-violent resistance to achieve the
independence of India, but he recognizes that a
modern State cannot be maintained without both a
police force and an army. When the writer asked
him personally how a divided Indian army could be
commanded by a Moslem, a Hindu, or a Sikh, he
told me they could first ask an American or some
foreign neutral to lead their army. But Gandhi
pacifists and Indian nationalists would defend their
country if attacked by Japan or Soviet Russia or
any other foreign power by the full force of their
army* So, I believe, should our own country.”
I can only say that I have no recollection of
my having ever made such a statement. I know
Dr. Sherwood Eddy well. I remember too his
visit. The astounding statement put into my
mouth belies all I have ever written or said
To this must also be added the important infor-
mation whether the increase in consumption has
reached the poorest. For, meie increase of the
average does not signify much. If, in a village of
500 souls, there is a very rich family of ten which
has increased its textile consumption from 500 yards
to 2,500 3 ’ards per year, the average of the village
will show a very great advance. But only ten would
have got the advantage of the increase. Between the
Nizam and the Gaekwar at the one end and the
Adibasi and the Harijan at the other, the hiatus is
so great that the figures cf i>cr ca’Pita income, con-
sumption etc. hardly give any picture of the reality-
Therefore reality demands a knowledge of how the
naked fare. This is clone by the khadi method.”
K. G. Mashruwala
CONTENTS Page
Servants of India Society ... M. K. Gandhi 217
Question Box
Open Letter
Not Quite So Bad
A Worthy Educational
Effort
Two Just Complaints
Travancore
The Journey Back
Notes:
Impossible
Our Textile Wants
... M. K. Gandhi 217
... R, T. Templin 220
... M. K. Gandhi 222
... M. K. Gandhi 222
... M. K. Gandhi 223
... M. K. Gandhi 225
... Pyarelal 226
... M. K. G. 228
... K. G. M. 223
"-Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4
Subscription Ratos — iNLAim : One year, Rs. 4; six months, Rs. 2-8. FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5-8 or 8 sh. or 2 8.
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Editor : MAHADEV DESAl
VoL. VIII, No. 26 ] POONA — SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
WHAT OF THE “WEAK MAJOEITY”?
( By M, K- Gandhi )
Prof. Timur, of Islamia College, Peshawar, writes;
“ The world is indebted to you for revealing to it
in these hard times the hidden values of non-vio-
lence. The experiment which you want to make of
defending India against foreign aggression without
the use of arms would be the boldest moral experi-
ment of all times. There are two possible results
of such a course. Either the conscience of the
invaders may be awakened by the love of the in-
vaded and they may repent of their sin. Or the
proud invaders may take non-violence as a sign of
physical weakness and degeneration and may think
it right to subjugate, rule over, and exploit, a weak
people. This is the doctrine of Nietzsche which is
followed in practice by Hitler. A great loss is
involved in such conquest of the physically weak by
the physically strong, A few strong-willed members
of the conquered nation may refuse to own allegiance
to the conquerors, but the large majority always
submits and adopts servile manners to preserve its
existence. Among them may be found great scientists,
philosophers and artists. Genius and moral strength
are not always combined in the same man. The
strong man does not need armies to defend his
liberty. Pie sacrifices his body to preserve his soul.
Such men are, however, few and far between. It
is the weak majority which needs protection. The
question is how to protect it by non-violent methods.
This is the real difficulty which every patriot feels
when he thinks of adopting non-violence for the
defence of his country.
I hope you would be kind enough to throw light
on this point in an early issue of Harijan'^
The weak majority no doubt needs protection.
If all were soldiers either of ahimsa or himsa,
no such questions as call for discussion in these
columns would arise. There is always a weak
majority that would want protection against man’s
mischief. The orthodox method we know. Nazism
is its logical outcome. It is an answer to a
definite want. A terrible wrong wantonly per-
petrated against a whole nation cried out for
redress. And Hitler arose to avenge it. What-
ever the ultimate fortune of the war, Germany
will not be humiliated again. Humanity will not
stand a second outrage. But in seeking to avenge
the wrong by the wrong method of violence
brought to very near perfection. Hitler has
brutalised not only Germans but a large part of
humanity. The end of it we have not yet
reached. For Britain, so long as she holds to
the orthodox method, has to copy the Nazi
methods if she is to put up a successful defence*
Thus the logical outcome of the violent method
seems to be increasingly to brutalise man includ-
ing “the weak majority”. For it has to give its
defenders the required measure of co-operation.
Now imagine the same majority defended after
the method of non-violence. As it admits of
no grossness, no fraud, no malice, it must raise
the moral tone of the defenders. Hence there
will be a corresponding rise in the moral tone of
the “ weak majority” to be defended. No doubt
there- will be difference in degree, but not in kind.
But the snag comes in when we consider the
ways and means of working the non-violent
method. In working the other, is no
difficulty in getting the human material. There-
fore that way seems easy. In getting non-
violent defenders, we have to pick and choose.
Money cannot buy them. The non-violent pro-
cess is wholly different from the one commonly
known. I can only say that my own experi-
ence in organising non-violent action for half a
century fills me with hope for the future. It
has succeeded in a marked measure in protecting
the “ weak majority ”. But half a century is
nothing in discovering the hidden possibilities
of this force and working them out. Those,
therefore, like the correspondent who are attract-
ed to non-violence, should, according to their
ability and opportunity, join the experiment. It
has entered upon a most interesting, though at
the same time a most difficult", stage. I am my-
self sailing on uncharted waters. I have to take
soundings every half-hour. The difficulty only
braces me for the struggle. Sevagram, 6-8-40
Hopeful
One reads the following in the daily press:
“ A call for passive resistance by French men and
women was made by General De Gaulle in a broad-
cast last night. He urged all free Frenchmen in
France not to help in the war against Britain.”
I know that this is not a case of conver-
sion. The gallant general will deal destruction
to the ‘enemy’ to the best of his ability when-
ever he is able to. Nor can this passive resist-
ance be called non-violent by any stretch of
meaning. I simply cite General De Gaulle’s
advice to his countrymen to show that the
world is irresistibly and unconsciously being
drawn towards non-violent action.
Sevagram, 5-8-40
M. K. a
242
HARIJAN
THE BISWA AFFAIR
C By M. K, Gandhi )
Though late in the day I must redeem my
promise to give my opinion on this unfortunate
case. I have letters containing angry protests
against the five Congress Ministers in C. P.,
chiefly the Prime Minister. I have carefully read
both the judgments, that of the learned Chief
Justice and of the concurring Judge. There is
no doubt whatsoever that there has been a gross
miscarriage of justice due to the police bungl-
ing. I hold Pandit Shukla and his fellow-minis-
ters to be wholly free from blame. These are
the remarks of the Chief Justice about Pandit
Shukla : “ In the course of the debate the then
Prime Minister himself did not hesitate to use
the word ‘ murder ’ and to indicate that this
was not a case of riot but a carefully planned
murder ruthlessly carried out.” I can find nothing
objectionable in this statement. He made use
of the information then in his possession. He
might have used the orthodox prefix ‘ alleged ’
in connection with ‘ murder ’ *and used guarded
language. But there is nothing in his statement
to justify the wrath poured upon his head.
The judges’ finding, however, is that there was
a murder and that it was worthy of condemna-
tion. Their natural regret was that because of
want of reliable evidence the crime had to go
unpunished. I have not, therefore, been able to
understand, much less to appreciate, the rejoicing
over what is a manifest failure pf justice. So
far as the discharge of the prisoners was con-
cerned, it was a matter for common, not com-
munal, rejoicing that no man suffered unless there
was conclusive evidence. All must accept the un-
equivocal judgment of the final court of appeal.
But there should have been common regret too
that there was failure of justice. It cannot be
to the advantage of any community that a
murderer should be screened. Panditji has written
a long letter to the Maulana Saheb about the
affair. I have seen -the letter. I do not know
what the Maulana Saheb has said on the letter,
I hold it to be quite convincing. I take from
the letter the following Muslim testimony
quoted by him :
As Khan Saheb Abdul Rahman stated on the floor
of the House, I ‘in spite of governmental duties and
ill-health went to the place.’ I was accompanied by as
many Muslim M. L. A.s as Hindu M. L. A.s of Berar.
After visiting Biswa I proceeded to Khamgaon. The
Muslim M. L. A.s who were still with me invited
•me to visit the Muslim high school at Khamgaon,
and I took tea with them. When I addressed a
public meeting of Hindus and Muslims I was pub-
licly questioned about my having visited the school
and taken tea there so soon after the murder of
Jugdeorao. In reply I stated publicly that as Con-
gress Premier I was the Premier of all the com-
munities, and that I would accept as many times
the invitation of the Muslims as it was extended to
me. I appealed to both the communities to restore
harmony and goodwill. It was in reference to this
[ August ll, 1940
public statement of mine that Khan Saheb Abdul
Rahman said in the Assembly : ' I was so pleased
to hear the Hon’bie Premier in Khamgaon. I only
wish my friends had only followed him in the noble
sentiments he has expressed and the lead he has
given.’ ”
I hope that my opinion will not revive the
dying embers of an unfortunate controversy
which should never have arisen. If the two
communities must quarrel, is it not possible to
fight fair ? Charges without foundation can but
add to the existing bitterness.
Sevagram, 6-8-40
DRAWBACKS OF NON-VIOLENCE
( By K. G. Masluiiwala )
The other day 1 was talking with a distin-
guished friend about the non-violent bravery dis-
played by men and women satyagrahis in Bardoli,
Dharasana, Bombay and other places during the
no rent and civil disobedience campaigns. “ It is
all right, ” he said, “ when we speak to foreign-
ers or our people. But I do not regard this
heroism as of much value. You have really no
idea of the substance of which true bravery is
made. Just picture to your mind, if you can, a
dozen enemy ’planes hovering over Dunkirk. Sud-
denly you see an English youth dashing in their
midst alone from the other side of the Channel
with his ’plane and trying to brings down as
many of them as possible. Practically speaking,
he has not the least chance of returning alive.
He has never hoped to. The same picture holds
true of the adventure of a submariner or a
parachutist. Is there any common ground between
this bravery and that of your lathi-charge rcsist-
ers? And, even there, we never had had to
taste the worst kind of torture which militarism
can inflict. All that we have been able to
achieve by our non-violent campaigns is to carry
our Brahman, Bania and Kisan lads just one
step forward from their age-long timidity. If
we had been Kshatriyas, and had, like Ashoka,
grown from violence to non-violence, there would
have been something to be proud of. But the
non-violence of our brand is merely the result
of our incapacity to inflict violence, I doubt if
we shall adhere to it after we have tasted the
strong wine of violence.”
The non-violence of Gandhiji himself has been
questioned by some on similar grounds. In the
birth-day volume on Mahatma Gandhi, compiled
last year by Sir S. Radhakrishnan, Mr. Edward
Thompson writes :
“He is a Gujarati, one of a race that is un-
warlike and has been often overrun and pillaged,
especially by the Marathas. His origins are rarely naeto-
tioned in the West, which does not understand their
significance, but they are rarely forgotten in India-
Pie has laid himself open to the retort (and it is
part o£ his moral courage that he is aware of this,
and does not let himself be deflected by awareness)
.that his emphasis on ahimsa, ‘non-violence’, is a
badge of his unmartial origins. The Marathas, I think,
rarely forget that they are Marathas, and that he is
AUGUST 11, 1940 ] HAEIJAl^ 243
a Gujarati; among them his vogue has been fitful
and wavering. It has been the same with the
Rajputs, another warlike nation. *To me, as a Rajput,'
said a Central Indian Prince to mcj ‘ the doctrine
of aliimsa is inconceivable! It is a Rajput's duty
to kill and to be warlike!”
This is not a new argument. It has been put
forth again and again, ever since Gandhiji appear-
ed on the Congress platform. Only a few
days ago Dr. R. P. Paranjapye is reported in the
press to have said that the spirit of ahimsa
can never be accepted by Maharashtra. And so
I have often asked this question to myself: Is
the non-violence, which Gandhiji is teaching and
which appeals to people of my temperament, as
if instinctively, the indication of my congenital
Bania-timidity, further nourished by the teachings
of Vaishnavism or Jainism ? Or is it the result
of the grov7th of higher virtues such as love,
reverence for life, compassion, forbearance, etc. ?
And has not the non-violent training produced
in me some deficiency of character also ?
After several years thinking, I have come to
the following conclusion:
I must unhesitatingly admit that pacifism or
dislike of bloodshed is a hereditary instinct in
me, further nurtured by later training. It is
difficult to say how many generations old it
is. Just as I never had any necessity to resist
the temptation to drink or to eat meat, so also
I did not have personally to pass through the
experiences of an Asboka, or to put a great
strain upon my intellect or instinct to accept
the philosophy of non-violence. No doubt,
those amongst my predecessors who, centuries
ago, relinquished a violent mode of eating and
living, when they became converts to Buddhism,
Jainism or Vaishnavism, deliberately passed from
violence to non-violence. There must have been
a transition stage before the later generations
settled down to the non-violent mode to
which T was born.
I consider it my good luck that I have inherited
non-violence. But that should make me fitter
for taking my non-violence a stage further.
I need not go through the experiences of my
forefathers. My argument has no value for
those who consider that violence and not
non-violence is the law of our being.
I must therefore find out how I could add
to the riches I have inherited. And this is what
Gandhiji is doing for all of us. He is exploring
the hidden possibilities of non-violence. Here I
want to clear up the fallacy in my friend’s argu-
ment. Bravery has a double meaning. The bravery
of the non-violent is itself non-violent. It will
never be called upon to compete with the bravery
of the young airman who, certain of his own death,
dashes into the enemy planes to destroy them.
The motive prompting the violent man is wholly
different from that of the votary of non-violence.
I hold that the imaginary English airman will
never be able to show the cool courage of the
Dharasana young men. He will be ashamed of
facing the charge of the men behind the fence
when he can make short work of them and
take possession of the salt works. Similarly the
non-violent man Vv’ill feel ashamed to intoxicate
himself with the lust for the imagined enemy’s
blood and to develop his recklessness. It is a
misnomer to call it bravery.
Than is not to say that the non-violent man
of today has nothing more to learn in the way
of bravery. He has to learn the art of facing
bullets without a rremble and without any anger
against the wrong-doer. I say again that this
bravery is any day superior to any known to
the world except of course that shown by the
non-violent martyrs of old.
Of course it is possible, nay it is highly
probable, that a large number of people accept-
ed the creed of non-violence with only a partial
understanding of it. This is not a matter of
surprise. It is possible that a future teacher of
non-violence will say the same about what we
are attempting now. To a certain extent, the
principle of non-violence is founded on Respect
for life ” and “ Do unto others as you would
have others to do unto you.” Both taken
together mean that the respect for another’s
life is founded on respect for one’s own. So,
respect for one’s own life grew along with
respect for another’s life. Consequently, instinc-
tively life came to be so organised by the
votary of non-violence that he kept all danger
to his own life at a safe distance. And the
word “ life ” became restricted to the body. In
other words, “ respect for life ” became equiva-
lent to ** safety first of the body Regard
for what we know as self-respect fell at a
discount. It did not matter if one was abused,
insulted, slapped, at times robbed, if on the whole
he was allowed to lead a life of some safety and,
if possible, also of affluence. And, of course, trade
and commerce provided plenty of opportunity
for that. All this has become a part of the
connotation of the word “ bania
If non-violence is to be restored to its unique
status amongst virtues, it must be refined of im-
purities. To speak in educational technology, pro-
jects should be discovered in our training, which
will develop boldness in man, consistently with
non-violence. And non-violence must not mean
mere respect for another’s life as one respects
one’s own, but it must mean such respect at
the risk of one’s own; and that the respect for
one’s own life means respect for one's own
honour and not body. So that the command-
ment means — you should respect another’s life
and honour as and because you respect your own.
Some Books by
Gandhiji
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244
HARIJAN
Aug. 11 1940 I
IS NON-VIOLENCE IMPOSSIBLE?
( By M, K. Gandhi )
One may admit that in theory non-violence is an
infallible weapon, and that no power on earth can
be a match for the man who has achieved non-
violence to the fullest extent. But is this possible ?
There may be a rare yopfi who can tame wild
beasts like lions and tigers and render them meek
as lambs, but the average man must resort to a
rifle or similar weapon to protect himself against
such beasts. You with your wonderful power may
convert others by the sheer force of your thought,
but the average man has to have recourse to worldly
remedies like a law court, pleaders and so on.
Even in the dim and distant past we rarely hear
of men who practised ahimsa in daily affairs. Lord
Buddha tried for a time to lead people along the
path of ahimsa, but what happened after him ?
Society went back to its old ways, forgetting Buddha’s
teaching. The past, therefore, offers little promise,
for the future, of society going along the lines
of ahimsa any more than it has done before, and
our sages, therefore, must have wisely left the world
and resorted to the forest for practising truth
and non-violence. You may inspire a few persons to
study ahimsa, but society as a whole is not likely to
take to it. The same argument applies to India as
a nation. She must needs seek means other than
those of ahimsa in order to win her liberty. It is
idle to expect an infant learning his primer to under-
stand a book like Tilak’s Gita. Even so is it idle
to expect people steeped in worldly pleasures to
understand the infallibility of ahimsa. Besides ahimsa
is the final goal, the attainment of which requires
much greater preparation than is required in order
to obtain a degree in medicine or engineering. We
shall have to have numerous colleges and universities
for the teaching of the science and art of truth and
non*violence. Today society directs its energies to
creating new wants and satisfying them. How do
you expect it to turn those energies in the direction
of researches in ahimsa?”-
The doubts and difficulties raised by this cor-
respondent occur to others also, and I have on
various occasions tried to solve them too. But
when the Working Committee of the Congress
has been instrumental in making of ahimsa
a live issue, it seems necessary to deal with
these doubts and difficulties at some length.
The correspondent doubts in substance the
universal application of ahimsa, and asserts that
society has made little progress towards it.
Teachers like Buddha arose and made some eflfort
with some little success perhaps in their life-
time, but society is just where it was in spite
of them. Ahimsa may be good enough to be
the duty of an individual; for society it is good
[ AUGUST 11, 1940
for nothing, and India too will have to take
to violence for her freedom.
The argument is, I think, fundamentally wrong.
The last statement is incorrect inasmuch as the
Congress has adhered to non-violence as the
means for the attainment of Swaraj. It has
indeed gone a step further. The question having
been raised as to whether non-violence continues
to be the weapon against all internal disturbances,
the A. I. C. C. clearly gave the answer in the
afl&rmative. It is only for protection against out-
side aggression that the Congress has maintained
that it would be necessary to have an army.
And then even on this matter there was a con-
siderable body of the members of the A. I. C. C.
who voted against the resolution. This dissent
has got to be reckoned with when the question
voted upon is one of principle. The Congress
policy must always be decided by a majority
vote, but it does not cancel the minority vote.
It stands. Where there is no principle involved
and there is a programme to be carried out, the
minority has got to follow the majority. But
where there is a principle involved, the dissent
stands, and it is bound to express itself in
practice when the occasion arises. That means
that ahimsa for all occasions and all purposes
has been recognised by a society, however small
it may be, and that ahimsa as a remedy to be
used by society has made fair strides. Whether
it will make further strides or no is a diflferent
matter. The Working Committee’s resolution,
therefore, fails to lend any support to the corres-
pondent’s doubts. On the contrary it should in
a certain degree dispel them.
Now for the argument that I am but a rare
individual, and that what little society has done
in the matter of ahimsa is due to my influence,
and that it is sure to disappear with me. This
is not right. The Congress has a number of
leaders who can think for themselves. The
Maulana is a great thinker of keen intellect
and vast reading. Few can equal him in his
Arabic and Persian scholarship. Experience has
taught him that ahimsa alone can make India
free. It was he who insisted on the resolution
accepting ahimsa as a weapon against internal
disturbances. Pandit Jawaharlal is not a man to
stand in awe of anyone. His study of history
and contemporary events is second to none. It
is after mature thought that he has accepted
ahimsa as a means for the attainment of Swaraj.
It is true that he has said that he would not
hesitate to accept Swaraj if non-violence failed
and it could be won by means of violence. But
that is not relevant to the present issue. There
are not a few other big names in the Congress
who believe in ahimsa as the only weapon at
least for the attainment of Swaraj. To think
that all of them will give up the way of
ahimsa as soon as I am gone, is to insult them
and to insult human nature. We muse believe
that everyone can think for himself. Mutual
respect to that extent is essential for progress.
By crediting our companions with independent
AUGUST 11, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
245
judgment we strengthen them and make it easy
for them to be independent-minded even if
they are proved to be weak.
I hope neither the correspondent nor anyone
else believes that the Congress or many Con-
gress leaders have bidden good-bye to ahimsa.
To the limited extent that I have pointed out
faith in ahimsa has been reiterated and made
clear beyond any doubt by the Congress. I
agree that the limit laid down by the Congress
considerably narrows down the sphere of ahimsa
and dims its splendour. But the limited ahimsa
of the Congress is good enough for the purpose
of our present argument. For I am trying to
make out that the field of ahimsa is widening,
and the limited acceptance of ahimsa by the
Congress sufficiently supports my position.
If we turn our eyes to the time of which
history has any record down to our own time,
we shall find that man has been steadily pro-
gressing towards ahimsa. Our remote ancestors
were cannibals Then came a time when they
were fed up with cannibalism and they began to
live on chase. Next came a stage when man
was ashamed of leading the life of a wandering
hunter. He therefore took to agriculture and
depended principally on mother earth for his
food. Thus from being a nomad he settled down
to civilised stable life, founded villages and
towns, and from member of a family he becam e
member of a community and a nation. All these
are signs of progressive ahimsa and diminishing
himsa. Had it been otherwise, the human species
should have been extinct by now, even as many
•of the lower species have disappeared.
Prophets and avatars have also tiught the
lesson of ahimsa more or less. Not on? of them
has professed to teach himsa. And how should
it be otherwise ? Himsa does not need to be
taught. Man as animal is violent, but as Spirit
is non-violent. The moment he awakes to the
Spirit within he cannot remain violent. Either
he progresses towards ahimsa or rushes to his
doom. That is why the prophets and avatars
have taught the lessons of truth, harinony ,
brotherhood, justice, etc. — all attributes of
ahimsa.
And yet violence seems to persist, even to
the extent of thinking people like the corres-
pondent regarding it as the final weapon.
But as I have shown history and experience
.are against him.
If we believe that mankind has steadily pro-
gressed toward^ ahimsa, it follows that it has
to progress towards it still further. Nothing
in this world is static, everything is kinetic. If
there is no progression, then there is inevit-
able retrogression. No one can remain without
the eternal cycle, unless it be God Himself.
The present war is the saturation point in
violence. It spells to my mind also its doom.
Daily I have testimony of the fact that ahimsa
was never before appreciated by mankind as it
is today. All the testimony from the West that
I continue to receive points in the same direc-
tion. The Congress has pledged itself to ahimsa
however limited. I invite the correspondent and
doubters like him to shed their doubts and
plunge confidently into the sacred sacrificial Fire
of ahimsa. Then I have little doubt that the
Congress wfill retrace its step. “ Ic is always
v/illin’.” Well has Pritam, our poet, sung:
Happiest are those that plunge in the Fire
The lookers-on are all but scorched by flames,
Sevagram, 5-8-40
(Translated from Gujarati)
THE TEST OF NON-VIOLENCE
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Those who regard themselves as out and out
votaries of non-violence and believe the step
taken by Rajaji and others to be wrong, have
to pass through a severe test. I have expressed
my opinion in the clearest possible language. I
believe that Rajaji has gone off the track. He
believes that I have. The future alone will
decide who is right.
But as I have not the slightest doubt about
the correctness of my position, I have not hesi-
tated to advise those who think with me to
leave the Congress. But this does not mean
that they have to do so forthwith. It is enough
if they ' are ready to retire when I decide upon
the date. Before the actual step is taken, we
shall have to make sure of certain things. Their
retirement must be such as to cause no shock
to fellow Congressmen. If these do not appre-
ciate the step, I have to explain it to them
patiently, and to convince them that it is in
the interest of the Congress that it should be
taken. It is common cause between them and
us that it would be an ideal thing if wc could
protect the country against foreign aggression by
non-violence. It is therefore desirable that there
should be a group of people pledged to devote
their lives to proving the efficacy of non-vio-
lence, If the existence of such a group is good
for the country, it is apparent that they should
remain outside the Congress, and that the
Congress should not only tolerate them but
welcome them, render them as much help as
possible, and regard them as their own. That
means that far from there being any estrange-
ment or misunderstanding between the Congress
and this group, their relations should, if
possible, be sweeter than before.
To bring about this happy consummation, the
out and out votaries of non-violence should not
even mentally find fault with their erstwhile
comrades. They may not remind them of their
previous statements. It is their duty to revise
their statements if they feel that they were
erroneous, and it is possible that they may not
read in them the same implications as others
discover in them. The best thing, therefore, is
to bear joyously with one another. This mutual
tolerance presupposes their choosing different
spheres of* action and working in co-operation
wherever possible.
246
HARIJAN
It will be some time before we can create such
an atmosphere, but we are sure to succeed
if we make a serious endeavour in this direction.
In the meanwhile let everyone occupy himself
with the constructive activities I have suggested,
and make steady progress therein. One or more
leaders in each province should prepare a list
of the seceders. I intend to convene a meeting
of the principal seceders at the proper time.
But I vr^^ill not take a single step without mature
deliberation.
Sevagram, 5-8-40
{Translated from Gujarati )
THE LIVE ISSUE
Wait, Watch, and Pray
A few members of the A. I. C. C. who are
out and out believers in non-violence visited
Sevagram the other day. Some of them had
remained neutral on the Delhi resolution, some
had opposed it. What was the right attitude?
What were they to do next ? What was the
programme before them ? Should they not retire
forthwith ? These and other questions were
troubling them, and they did not know what
to do. In response Gandhiji began to do
some loud thinking.
" Wait, watch, and pray,” said he, and re-
mained silent for a while. Then he said; “ You
must carefully follow what I am writing from
week to week. You must be absolutely sure
that you are out and out believers in non-
violence. Can your ahimsa stand the test ?
Rehearse to yourselves what you would do in
case of a riot. Those who have diflFered from
us are no cowards. If they say that they cannot
do without an army and police, they deserve
a respectful hearing. I myself do not know
what I should do in a difficult situation. You
know I have capitulated on the question of
the desirability of maintaining a police force.
But what I can say is that I shall hope to
behave non-violently, should the occasion arise.
I should not like to die before my death, I do
not want to prepare India for military defence
from today. We should never forget that we
are not the whole of India. The Congress is
without doubt a powerful organisation, but the
Congress is not the whole of India, The
Congress may not have an army, but those who
do not believe in non-violence will. And if the
Congress too surrenders, there is no one to
represent the no-army mentality. This was my
argument in a nutshell. But I failed to carry
conviction. Therefore I must find fault not with
my comrades but with myself. There must be
some weakness in my argument, and so I must
prepare myself to carry conviction to those
who difier from me. ”
“But,” he added, I have digressed. What
you and I have to do is to show our ahimsa
when there is rioting or similar disturbance. If
every one of us, wherever he is, begins doing sd
there will come into being a non-violent army.
[ August 11, 1940
Even the limited non-violence that all are
subscribing to would not have come into being
if we had seen no successful demonstrations
of it. So we have to bold on to our faith, even
if when the time comes v/e may fail. There is
no use arguing with the comrades who have
differed from us, I hope only temporarily. The
question is one of demonstrating the truth in
us, and we won’t do it, unless we show that
we have no malice, no bitterness, no inclination
to find faults. We have to prepare ourselves
for the terrible ordeal. The testing time may
come sooner than we imagine. I am sailing on
an uncharted sea. I have no cut and dried pro-
gramme, and I am brooding from moment to
moment. In the meanwhile follow my weekly
writings and carry out the constructive pro-
gramme. The time for resignation is not yet.
We must not be misunderstood,”
“ But, ” said a worker, “ you have asked us to
retire immediately, and all of us are ready.”
“Your readiness is good, and it is enough for
me for the time being. If you conscientiously
voted against the Delhi resolution, you did
nothing wrong; if you remained neutral, you did
nothing wrong. You would have been wrong if
you had joined hands with those who sought
to defeat the resolution on any but the ground
of non-violence. For having given your vote on
the Wardha resolution and having lost, you
could not vote against the Delhi resolution
which was the natural corollary of the Wardha
resolution. ”
“ But it was by accident that those who voted
against the Delhi resolution, did so. ”
“ No, it was by design. They are no believ-
ers in non-violence to the extent you are, but
they wanted to defeat the resolution for the
sake of their policy. ”
“ But then how long are wc to remain in the
Congress ? ”
“ I cannot give a definite answer. I shall have
a talk with the Maulana. We must not rush
the Maulana and the Working Committee. If
they find that the out and out non-violence
people were the sustaining part of the Congress
organisation, they will retrace their step.”
“ Then how long shall we wait ? ”
“ Until I give you the word. ”
“ But. “ said one of them, “ I disliked the
Wardha resolution and wanted to resign at once.”
“ You might have done so. Then you would
have been within your rights. But to do so
now might savour of violence .and self-right-
eousness. You must remember that I waited for
more than a year before taking the final step,
and then too I took it with the full approval
of the friends of the Working Committee.” ’
Power Politics or Swaraj Politics?
The non-violence issue has drawn out many a
quiet worker from his shell. Shri Vinoba, who was.
immersed in his experiments on the takli and
organising standard wage spinning, and latterly
in his study of Arabic and the Quran to qualify-
247
AUGUST 11, 1940 ] HAEIJAF
liimself better for Hinda-Muslim unicy* v/rites
legularly. He has written a long article full of
trenchant reasoning under the above-mentioned
caption. Some of his arguments may be
summarised here ;
“The whole trouble arises out of the fact that we
have not yet won Swaraj. But for the ■ attainment
of Swaraj even the Working Committee is
pledged to non-violence. Now how can complete
Swaraj be won without complete non-violence, i. e.
without organising the masses in a completely non-
violent way ? And if the masses are completely
non-violently organised, where remains the bugbear
of anarchy and internal disturbance? We are thus
begging the whole question.”
And then:
“Once you are caught in the war-machine there
is no getting out of it, there is no question of
justice or injustice, wrong or right. You resent to-
day the closing by the British of the Burma road
to Chinese traffic at the dictation of Japan. After
you are caught in the machine, you will have to
swallow many camels like that. For everything will
depend on whether you can militarily resist an
opponent or not. Again India promising to help for
defence only has no meaning. Does defence mean
internal defence ? By no means. The frontiers of
India are the African Coast, the Mediterranean and
so on, and so there is no limit to your being
involved in the war. Which means that you will
throw away capital built after 20 years’ labour
without a thought. In doing so you will create a
multitude of enemies, for all the enemies of England
become ipso Jacto our enemies. Now all this we
will do if we are promised Swaraj. When we come
to think of it, will it be in' anything but the name ?
For no sooner than the declaration of Swaraj is
made you will have mortgaged it to the British.
For you cannot have the military training to fight
•all the enemies you will have created without being
under the eternal military tutelage of Britain.
The trouble is that we want Swaraj withoui any
sacrifice. We want it to drop into our hands. We
have to labour patiently, silently, non-violently* for
It, and when it comes it will come as inevitably as
the dawn of day. The sun rises in the east but
fioods the remotest corners of the west with his
light and heat. Even so when Swaraj of our own
making comes it will enable the whole world to
find out the means of its freedom.”
“ But,” some people object, “we may in course
of time acquire the capacity of non-violent
administration. But by the time we are ready,
others will get into power and we shall be back
numbers.” Vinoba s reply to them is :
“ Gandhiji has already given the answer. Those
who will get into power will also be our brethren.
I would add this that our concern is with Swaraj-
politics and not power-politics. I do not mind our
having to be back numbers, our being consigned to
oblivion. I should be content if God does not
'Consign us to illusion and delusion. We want
Swarajya, not any rajya."
Sevagram, 7-^40 M. D.
SPINNIJ^G ANNIYERSAPY
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Shri Narandas Gandhi v/rites from Rajkot as
follows about the Spinning Anniversary:
“The 71 days’ programme for the forthcoming
anniversary was commenced on the morning of 20th
July with prayers and the song of the ‘ True
Vaishnava'. Spinning is in full swing. Some begin
from 4 A. M. Amritlal gets up at 3-30 A. M. and
begins spinning Ixom 4 A. M., and by 3-30 F. M.. with
a break for breakfast and lunch spins nearly 6,000
yards in 11 hours. After this he learns music, has
his walk and rest. He has resolved to spin 400.000
yards in 71 days. We have the evening prayer at
6-30. About 75 people attend. Tho following figures
of collections for Daridranarayan made
on the last
five birthdays may be of interest :
Collections
Expenses
( In contributions coins
Rs. of Copper, Nickle or
Rs.
Silver ) coins
1935
2555—3—3
66
43—0—0
1936
7348-12-0
67
155—4—6
1937
16396-12—6
68
184—4—6
1938
16228—4—3
69.
250-5-0
1939
16S77— 9— 4
70
266-11—3
Total
Q AH A Q— A
oyTUo — y t
oyy y — o
Purposes for which collections were used
Kathiawad Harijan Khadi
Rajkot
National
Famine
Sevak Sangh Work
School
Relief
Rs. Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
1935
2512-3-3’
1936
7193-7-6
1937 10000-0-0 6212-8-0®
1938
9000-0-0 3500-0-0’’
3477-15-3
1939
2140-0-0 1390-0-0'
1390-0-0 f
10,189-14-0*
1001-0-0®
\
soo-o-o®
[l.For work in Rajkot through Narandas Gandhi.
2. For
10 khadi centres in Kathiawad. 3.
Khadi work
in Porbandar through Chhaganlal Joshi.
4. Famine
relief through the national school. 5. Famine relief in
Porbandar through Chhaganlal Joshi. ]
Figures are usually uninteresting and I rarely
give details of these collections. But I have
given these in detail as they are of striking
interest. They are an eloquent testimony to the
work that can be done by the single-minded
devotion and efficiency of a single man. This
annual spinning sacrifice goes on without fuss
and advertisement. It is worthy of emulation
everywhere for it means automatic propagation
of khadi.
Sevagram, 5-8-40
( Translated front Gujarati )
Autobiography
Gandhiji’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
Satyagraba m South Africa
Companion volume to Autobiography. Rs. 4+9As*.
Available at Harijan Office — Poooa 4*., m
248
HAEIJAN
[ August 11, 1940
AUNDH
(By M. K, Gandhi )
Who does not know little Aundh ? Little it is
in size and income, but it made itself great
and famous by its Chief having bestowed, un-
asked, the boon of full self-government on bis
people. Its chief minister Appasaheb Pant has
brought out an attractive pamphlet of nine pages
describing the experiment, from which I repro-
duce the following :
“Village democracy is the basis -of the new Con-
stitution. Every village elects by the vote of all of
its adults a panchayat of five persons. One of these
five is elected by the panchayat unanimously as their
president. If this unanimity is not possible, then all
the adults of the village elect the president out of
the panchayat.
Duly elected presidents of a group of villages
constitute the taluka panchayat. The taluka panchayat
decides in its meetings the way in which it would
spend the money that it receives. It receives as
near as possible half the revenue that is collected
in that taluka. The villages prepare their budgets
and present them through their presidents to the
taluka panchayat. These are discussed and a budget
for the whole taluka is prepared. The villages can
spend the money they get as they think fit. As yet
education and public works constitute the chief
items of expenditure.
The members of the Assembly know not only
about the affairs of the Central Government, but
they are intimately connected with the everyday
work in the villages, and they get acquainted with
the work of other villages in their taluka at the
meetings of the taluka panchayat. The member of
the Legislative Assembly, in this way, is an active
worker almost 12 hours of the day. It is not that
he stands for election, gets elected on certain issues,
and does not worry about these till the next elec-
tion. He has to face the villagers every day. The
Constitution gives the power of recall to the villagers.
4/5ths of the voters can ask for a re-election of the
panchayat.
The panchayats dispense justice. The villager
need not spend money, go out of his village, and
spend days at the taluka town to get a hearing.
The panchayat decides his case on the spot. The
peasant can get witnesses in the village. And in
the cases that are difficult and involve intricate
points of law, a sub-judge comes to the village and
assists the panchayat with the dispensation of justice.
The sub-judge not only gives expert advice to the
panchayat, but also acts as a guide to the peasant
who many a time is completely ignorant of his
legal rights and is therefore liable to be misguided
by the vested interests — the goondas.”
Justice in Aundh is therefore cheap, swift, and
eflfective. In the panchayats of two talukas alone
197 criminal and civil suits have been disposed
of. In 75 per cent of civil suits and 50 per
cent of criminal cases no pleaders were engaged.
The witnesses had to be paid nothing, being
themselves on the spot There was thus great
saving of time and money. Most cases were
decided at a single sitting. The whole village
turns out at the hearing of cases. Hence lying
is rare, because it can be easily detected. There-
fore many cases are compromised out of court.
This method of dealing out justice is itself
great adult education.
There are 88 village schools for 72 villages.
After the introduction of adult franchise, 35
per cent of the adult populaticn received educa-
tion. Basic education is not neglected, nor is
physical. The Rajasbeb himself takes a keen
interest in the physical development of his
people. It is done through SiiryanamaskUrs It
is a special style.
If Appasaheb has shown the bright side of
the experiment, he has not lost sight of the.
difficulties and troubles. I omit notice of these.
For they are the usual difficulties that attend
all such experiments. The leaders of the people,
if they retain their faith, will surely surmount
them. This is how the pamphlet closes: “Little
has been done. Much remains to be done. It’s
an important work we are doing. We want
sympathy and advice,”
I am sure everybody sympathises with the
Aundh people. Let those who have any to give
send Appasaheb their thoughts. Let them be
sure that they are sound and relevant.
Sevagram, 6-8-40
Not A Harijan
Shri Ramachandran draws my attention to the
fact that Shri Achuthan should not have been
described as a Harijan. Whilst he is too big
to resent the description, h^s fellow Ezhawas-
are likely to take offence. I ought to have
known this. For when I was touring in Travan-
core I bad this delicate matter brought to my
notice. All those whose feeling has been hurt by
my use of the word will please believe me when
I say that no oJffence was intended by me,
I have never regarded the word as a term of
reproach. But I am aw'are that there are many
who do not look at things with my eyes.
Sevagram, 7-8-40 M. K. G.
CONTENTS Page
What of the “ Wkai:
Majority”? ... M. K. Gandhi 241
The Biswa Affair ... M. K, Gandhi 242
Drawbacks of Non-violence K. G. Mashruwala 212
Is Non-violence Impossible? ... M. K. Gandhi 244
The Test of Non-violence ... M. K. Gandhi 245
The Live Issue ... M. D. 246
Spinning Anniversary ... M. K. Gandhi 247
Aundh ... M. K. Gandhi 248
Notes :
Hopeful
Not a Harijan
M. K. G. 241
M. K. G. 24S
Print^ and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson Collegie Road, Poona 4
Subscription Raftsa — INLAND : One year, Ra. 4; six months, Bs. ^8. FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5-8 or 8 sh. or 2 8.
Editor ; MAHADEV DEGAl
VoL. Viri, No. 27 ] POONA — SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
MORAL SUPPORT
By M. K. Gandhi')
A friend writes as follows :
“ On the declaration of war you had advised giving
moral support to Britain. Many persons never under-
stood the implications of such support. You have
never explained them either so far as I know. I
am a regular reader of Harijanbccndhu, but I have
not seen a clear explanation there. Everyone puts
his own interpretation on the words. At the last
sitting of the Gujarat Provincial Congress Committee
the leaders said: ‘ Bapu was ready to give moral
support to Britain. What else has the Congress done
in its latest resolution ? As a matter of fact the
Congress asks for more than it promises to give.
Bapu was willing to give all for nothing.’ If war
is itself a wrong act, how can it deserve moral
support or blessings ? In the Mahabharata, was the
help that Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna moral, or
was it more destructive than the deadliest weapons
of war ?
I did explain in Harijan what I meant by
moral support. It is possible that the explana-
tion did not appear in Harijanbandhu, In my
English writings things are often left to be
understood. iTbe ellipses need, however, to be
brought out in translations.
Broadly speaking, Britain could have had moral
support from the Congress, if only she had
acted justly towards India. There was no spirit
of bargaining in my proposal because the help
was not oflfered in exchange for anything.
Suppose my friend possesses moral strength
which he has acquired through tapasya. And
suppose I am in need of this strength. I shall
not get it from him for the asking. He may
always be ready to give it to me, but if I
have not the capacity within me to take it
from him, how shall I ever obtain it? Moral
support cannot really be given in the sense
of giving. It automatically comes to him who is
qualified to take it. And such a one can take
it in abundance.
The Congress has this moral reservoir. The
acceptance of the creed of truth and non-
violence has been its tapasya. It has acquired
world prestige through the acceptance of truth
and non-violence for the attainment of its goal.
If the Congress could have given its blessings to
Britain, the world would have adjudged Britain’s
cause 'to be just. The masses over whom the
Congress holds sway would also have acknow-
ledged justice to be on Britain’s side. But in
all this the Congress would have had nothing
material to give. The British Government would,
by its own action, have acquired moral prestige
or strength. Though the Congress would not
give one man or one pice as material aid, its
moral support and blessings would definitely
have turned the scales in favour of Britain.
This is my belief. That my belief may be ground-
less and that the Congress never had any moral
prestige is quite possible. The determination of
this question is unnecessary for my argument.
But the opportunity for rendering moral support
now seems almost to have gone. The Congress
felt itself unable to adopt my course. It cannot
be taken mechanically. It presupposes a living
faith in truth and non-violence. The greatest
quality in the Congress is this that it has never
claimed to have what it really does not possess,
And therefore its resolutions are dignified and
carry force with them.
The help that the Congress in its latest reso-
lution promises to give is material and for a
consideration, eminently just, no doubt, but it is
not and cannot be unconditional. I do not
suggest that this position is either untenable or
morally wrong. The resolution has dignity because
it is the considered opinion of the majority. But
by passing it the Congress has, in my opinion,
surrendered the prestige it had or was supposed
to have. Many Congressmen say that while they
firmly believed that they could attain Swaraj
through non-violence, they had never meant it to
be understood that they could retain it also
through non-violence. The entire outside world,
however, believed that the Congress was show-
ing the golden way to the abolition of war. No
one outside India ever dreamed that, if the
Congress could wrest Independence from a mighty
power like Britain purely through non-violence,
it would not be able to defend it also by the
same means.
In my opinion Lord Krishna’s help to Arjuna
cannot be said to be moral, because he himself
had an army and was an expert in the art of
war. Duryodhana acted foolishly in that he
asked for Krishna’s army, while Arjuna got what
he wanted in the person of the expert in the
science of war. Therefore, if we interpret the
Mahabharata literally, Lord Krishna’s strength was
certainly more destructive than that of his army.
Because of his scientific skill Krishna was able
with an army of seven divisions to destroy
Duryodhana s army of eighteen. But it is well
250
HARIJAN [ August 18, 1940
known that I have never looked upon the
Mahabharata as a mere record of earthly warfare.
In the garb of an epic the poet has described
the eternal warfare within the individual as
well as in society^ between Truth and Untruth,
Violence and Non-violence, Right and Wrong.
Looking at the epic even superficially one can
understand how the great Vyasa has demonstrated
that in this war the victor was no better oflF
than the vanquished. Out of that vast con-
course of warriors only seven remained to tell
the tale. And the poet gives a true picture of
the woeful state of mind also of these seven.
The author has shown clearly too that in armed
warfare the contending parties are certain to
stoop to meanness and trickery. When occasion
arose even the great Yudhishthira had to resort
to untruth to save the battle.
One more question of the writer remains to
be answered. If war is itself a wrong act, how
can it be worthy of moral support or blessings?
I believe all war to be wholly wrong. But if
we scrutinise the motives of two warring parties,
we may find one to be in the right and the
other in the wrong. For instance, if A wishes
to seize B’s country, B is obviously the wronged
one. Both fight with arms. I do not believe
in violent warfare, but all the same B, whose
cause is just, deserves my moral help and
blessings.
Sevagram, 12-8-40 *( Translated from GujaratO
Notes
‘ One Step Forward ’
I have before me two neatly bound volumes
in English and Hindustani, being a report of
the first Conference of Basic National Education
held at Poona in October 1939. The English
volume is entitled One Step Forward. It covers
292 pages in English and 290 in Hindustani. The
price is Rs. 1/4 per volume. Besides instructive
introductory pages the report is divided into, three
parts. The first contains general speeches and
discussions. The second is devoted to various
interpretations of basic education, and the third
part is devoted to a description of the exhibi-
tion of basic education for which Shrimati Asha-
devi made herself mainly responsible. There is an
appendix which* contains the names and addresses
of delegates and invited guests. In the concluding
part of his brief introduction Shri Aryanaykam
says:
“The conference and . the exhibition have finally
lifted the scheme of basic national education above
the realm' of controversy and proved to the education-
al world that as regards the fundamental principles,
contents and method, the claims of this new educa-
tion are justified by a year’s experience of work
with the teachers and children.’*
The proceedings of the conference are proof
of that claim. I must resist the temptation to
quote from the body of the report. Those who
are interested in education should not be with-
out a copy. For me it is a matter of comfort
that this the latest, though perhaps not the
last, effort of mine has met with almost univer-
sal approbation. The years record promises a
bright future for the experiment. I must review
the annual report in another issue.
Sevagram, 5-8-40
A Convincing Argument
This is what an Englishwoman who knows
what war means says about the Working Com-
mittee’s decision to insist on non-violence for
dealing with internal disturbances while fearing
to trust non-violence to defend India :
“ Though 1 have said nothing all these days
about the developments in the country regarding
non-violence, you can be sure I have been watch-
ing them with the deepest interest and emotion. But
there is one thing at this stage I want to try and
put down on paper. To throw non-violence over-
board when it comes to facing external aggression
seems to me ti be throwing it away at the very
moment when its efficacy is the most sure and its
benefit to mankind the greatest. I have been trying
to make out why I instinctively feel that non-
violence would be more effective in such circum-
stances, and the reasons appear to be these: In
internal disorder — loot, robbery, rioting, etc., it is more
often than not a case of dealing with unintellectual
and lower types of humanity, whose ignorance or
loose passions must be firmly dealt with, just as a
child must be saved by its parents. But in the
case of external aggression, the two elements you
are dealing with are intellectually developed leaders
of nations and masses of innocent soldiers- On both
of these non-violence is bound to have its reactions.
Mass non-violent defence by the brave would win
over the innocent enemy-soldiers' in a day, and the
leaders, especially men of such intelligence as Hitler,
would be deeply moved by its grandeur, and their
very commonsense would tell them to refrain from
forcing their soldiers to such a conflict, where
repugnance, remorse and revolt against orders would
be the inevitable consequence. That this would bring
to the suffering world a glorious light and a glorious
hope, goes without saying. ... Of course you may
say that in what I have written I appear to
advocate force for the suppression of internal disorder.
What I mean is parental firmness — restraining action
invoked by love.
The point working in my -mind at this moment is:
If the Working Committee members ever thought
non-violence should be and could be the ideal for
internal affairs, then how much more it should be
and could be the ideal for external affairs ! The very
frightfulness of Europe today, which appears to
have shaken their faith, makes me feel all the more
ardent about non-violence.”
Sevagram, 4-8-40 M. K, G.
Books on Basic Education
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^ ^ 3n5t 14 4
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AUGUST 18, 1940 1 HAEIJAI? 251
ADULT EDUCATION
THROUGH HANDICRAFTS
I
During the Congress regime adult education
drives were organised in almost all the provinces.
In most cases they were restricted to teaching
grown-up people to read and write, and were
even referred to as ” anti-illiteracy drives The
experience was not always encouraging. For
instance, it was found that those who
were thus educated did not keep up their
interest in education after the education course
was over, and quite a number of cases lapsed
back into illiteracy after a longer or shorter
period. All the same, the balance of opinion
here is still in favour of this kind of adult
education. In America, however, where they
have gone through the whole gamut, there is
beginning to be experienced a swing round in
favour of using handicrafts as a medium for
educating both young and old. In fact Mr.
Allen Eaton, whose volume Handicrafts in the
Southern Highlands I noticed in Harijan recently,
has devoted one of the most illuminating chap-
ters in his book to examining the utility of
handicrafts as a means for giving adult education.
Adult education is comparatively a later growth
even in America. The idea that everyone should
continue education throughout life has only re-
cently been generally adopted. The most impor-
tant contribution made to adult education in the
present generation, according to Mr. Eaton, was
“ the convincing proof offered by Edward L.
Thorndike and associates of the Columbia Uni-
versity that adults could learn on the average
as readily as children.’* But the fact that adults
can learn carries with it no assurance that they
will, and so search is continuing with new
zest for those things that stimulate learning.
From this search have emerged two definite
schools with variants between — the old school
which would teach all the facts to children
while they are young, and the new school which
would give them the tools of learning while
young but would provide the facts and tech-
niques as near as possible to the time when they
will need to use them. As that great educationist
John Dewey observed, “ First the need, then the
knowledge or technique to satisfy that need.”
Adult education, according to this school, is
the continuation of the process of learning
among men and women regardless of age or
previous experience in school. In the words of
another savant, “ adult education presumes that
the creative spark may be kept alive through-
out life, and moreover that it may be rekindled
in those adults who are willing to devote a
portion of their energy to the process of
becoming intelligent. ”
An outstanding advantage that is claimed for
handicrafts in the process of adult learning is that
they can be used as a starting point, as a centre
of interest for a large number of individuals
regardless of their level of intelligence or experi-
ence. ‘They hold potentialities for the doctor
of philosophy on one end of our educational pro-
cession, and for the man who does not read or
write on the other end, and, of course, for the
far larger number in between.” Mr Eaton enu-
merates the following five classes of people in
U. S. A., by whom at least the handicrafts may
be used for advancement in experience: 1. The
graduate of college, university or professional
school ; 2. the adult, who may have had
only a grammar or high school training; 3.
the grown-up who has not gone to school
much, but who has learned to read and write
after a fashion ; 4. the immigrant who cannot
read or write the English language, but who
may have had schooling in his homeland; 5. the
adult who because of lack of opportunity has
never learned to read or write.
A person can get along without an education
while young, it has been observed, but as he
grows older, he feels the need for learning more
and more. “ You can add much to your own-
happiness,” observed Ambassador Howard in one
of his addresses, “ if you will learn not only to
appreciate beautiful things, but also create them
within the measure of your capacity.*’
An excellent example of the educational
potentialities of spinning and weaving is
recorded by Mr. Eaton on p. 307 of his book :
“ Several mountain women, acting upon the sug-
gestion of two of their companions that they try to
learn something about weaving as done in other
places and in other times; soon found themselves
engaged in a study embracing all the basic pro-
cesses of textile-making. Their quest for knowledge
carried them into the beginning of history, and in
their studies' they travelled round the globe, making
contacts with every continent and seeing interesting
and sometimes rare examples of weaving from the
handlooms of many countries. For more than three
years they have been on this quest.... Theirs is an
ever-widening search which has opened up the fields
of history, literature, geography, anthropology, agri-
culture, and art, with glimpses into botany, chemistry,
and other branches of learning until, as one of the
number said recently, ‘it appears like if ^ you knew
all there is about to know about spinning and
weavings you would know about all there is to
kfiow about everything' ”
{To he concluded )
Sevagram, 17-7-40 Pyarelal
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252
HAEIJ'AN
[ August 18, 1940
4-lcLtij(in
Aug. 18
1940
IMPLICATIONS OF
CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAMME
(_By M.K. Gandhi )
A correspondent writes :
“ What are the qualities that you intend to incul-
cate in people by laying stress on the constructive
programme ? What are the qualifications necessary
for a constructive worker in order to make his
work effective ?”
The constructive programme is a big under-
taking including a number of items: ( 1 ) Hindu-
Muslim or communal unity; ( 2 ) Removal of
untouchability; ( 3 ) Prohibition; ( 4 ) Khadi: ( 5 )
Other village industries; ( 6 ) Village sanitation;
( 7 ) New or basic education; ( 8 ) Adult educa-
tion; (9) Uplift of women; (10) Education in
hygiene and health; (11) Propagation of Rashtra-
bhasha; ( 12 ) Cultivating love of one’s own
language; (13) Working for economic equality.
This list can be supplemented if necessary* but
it is so comprehensive that I think, it can be
proved to include items appearing to have been
omitted.
The reader will see that it is the want of all
these things that is responsible for our bondage.
He will also see that the constructive programme
of the Congress is not supposed to include all
the items. That is understood to include only
four items, or rather six, now that the Congress
has created the All India Village Industries
Association and the Basic Education Board. But
we have to go further forward, we have to
stabilise and perfect ahimsa, and so we have to
make the constructive programme as compre-
hensive as possible. There should be no room
for doubt that, if we can win Swaraj purely
through non-violence, we can also retain it
through the same means. In the fulfilment of
the constructive programme lies the non-violent
attainment of Swaraj.
The items I have mentioned are not in order
of importance. I have put them down just as
they came to my pen. Generally I talk of khadi
only nowadays, because millions of people can
take their share in this work, and progress
can be arithmetically measured. Communal unity
and the removal of untouchability cannot be thus
assessed. Once they become part of our daily
life, nothing need be done by us as individuals.
Let us now glance at the various items.
Without Hindu-Muslim, i. e. communal, unity
.we shall always remain crippled. And how can
a crippled India win Swaraj ? Communal unity
means unity between Hindus, Sikhs, Mussalmans,
Christians, Parsis, Jews. All these go to make
Hindustan. He who neglects any of these com-
munities does not know constructive work.
As long as the curse of untouchability pollutes
the mind of the Hindu, so long is he himself
an untouchable in the eyes of the world, and
an untouchable cannot win non-violent Swaraj.
The removal of untouchability means treating the ‘
so-called untouchables as one’s own kith and kin.
He who docs treat them so must be free from
the sense of high and low, in fact free from all
wrong class-sense. He will regard the whole
world as one family. Under non-violent Swaraj
it will be impossible to conceive of any country
as an enemy country.
Pure Swaraj is impossible of attainment by
people who have been or who are slaves of
intoxicating drinks and drugs. It must never be
forgotten that a man in the grip of intoxicants
is generally bereft of the moral sense.
Everyone now may be said to believe that
without khadi there is no just and immediate
solution of the problem of the starvation of our
millions. I need not therefore dilate upon it, I
would only add that in the resuscitation of khadi
lies the resuscitation of the ruined village arti-
sans. Khadi requisites ( wheels, looms, etc, ) have
to be made by the village carpenter and black-
smith. For unless these requisites are made in the
village it cannot be self-contained and prosperous.
The revival of khadi presupposes the revival
of all other village industries. Because we have
not laid proper stress on this khadi-wearers
see nothing wrong in using other articles which
are foreign or mill-made. Such people may be
said to have failed to grasp the inner meaning
of khadi. They forget that by establishing the
Village Industries Association the Congress has
placed all other village industries on the same
level as khadi. As the solar system will be dark
without the sun, even so will the sun be lustre-
less without the heavenly bodies. All things in
the universe are interdependent. The salvation
of India is impossible without the salvation of
villages.
If rural reconstruction were not to include
rural sanitation, our villages would remain the
muck-heaps that they are today. Village sanita-
tion is a vital part of village life and is as
difficult as it is important. It needs a heroic
effort to eradicate age-long insanitation. The
village worker who is ignorant of the science
of village sanitation, who is not a successful
scavenger, cannot fit himself for village service.
It seems to be generally admitted that with-
out the new or basic education the education
of millions of children in India is well-nigh
impossible. The village worker has, therefore, to
master it, and become a basic education teacher
himself.
Adult education will follow in the wake of
basic education as a matter of course. Where
this new education has taken root, the children
themselves become their parents’ teachers. Be
that as it may, the village worker has to under-
take adult education also.
Woman is described as man's better half. As
long as she has not the same rights in law as
AUGUST 18, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
253
man, as long as the birth of a girl does not
receive the same welcome as that of a boy. so
long we should know that India is suffering
from partial paralysis. Suppression of woman is
a denial of ahimsa. Every village worker will,
therefore, regard every woman as his mother, sister
or daughter as the case may be, and look upon
her with respect. Only such a worker will
command the confidence of the village people.
It is impossible for an unhealthy people to win
Swaraj. Therefore we should no longer be guilty
of the neglect of the health of our people.
Every village worker must have a knowledge of
the general principles of health.
Without a common language no nation can
come into being. Instead of worrying himself
with the controversy about Hindi-Hindustani
and Urdu, the village worker will acquire a
knowledge of the rashtrabhasha, which should
be such as can be understood by both Hindus
and Muslims.
Our infatuation for English has made us un-
faithful to provincial languages. If only as
penance for this unfaithfulness the village worker
should cultivate in the villagers a love of their
own speech. He will have equal regard for all
the other languages of India, and will learn the
language of the part where he may be working,
and thus be able to inspire the villagers there
with a regard for their own speech.
The whole of this programme will, however, be
.a structure on sand if it is not built on the solid
foundation of economic equality. Economic equa-
lity must never be supposed to mean possession
of an equal amount of worldly goods by every-
one. It does mean, however, that everyone will
have a proper house to live in, sufficient and
balanced food to eat, and sufficient khadi with
which to cover himself. It also means that the
cruel inequality that obtains today will be remov-
ed by purely non-violent means. This question,
however, requires to be separately dealt with.
Sevagram, 13-8-40 {^Translated from Gujarati')
Deeply Distressing
In response to The Heivs Chronicle's request
Gandhiji has cabled the following statement:
Having retired from participation in Congress
politics, I have refrained from expressing opinion
on the recent Viceregal pronouncement. But pres-
sure from friends in England and fellow workers
here demands response from me. The Viceregal
pronouncement is deeply distressing. It widens
the gulf between India, as represented by the
Congress, and England. Thinking India outside the
■Congress, too, has not welcomed the pronounce-
ment. The Secretary of State’s gloss soothes
the ear, but does not dispel suspicion. Neither
does the pronouncement take note of the smoul-
dering discontent. My own fear is that democracy
is being wrecked. Britain cannot claim to stand
for justice, if she fails to be just to India.
India’s disease is too deep to yield to any make-
believe or half-hearted measures.
Sevagram, 13-8-40
QUESTION BOX
(By M. K. Gandhi )
Can He Stand Alone?
Q. You are anxious that there should be be-
lievers in complete non-violence in every pro vince .
Is there not need then to organise a Sangh of
such persons ? Or are you of opinion that ahimsa
is a force that enables individuals to stand alone?
A. Complete non-violence needs neither the
aid of speech nor of the pen. And if it does
not require the help of these two means, it
certainly does not stand in need of organised
strength. A man or woman who is saturated
with ahimsa has only to will a thing and it
happens. I can picture this truth in my imagi-
nation. It is stated in the scriptures too. But
my experience can qnly be reckoned as meagre ;
so meagre that I cannot ask anyone to build on
it. Hence my desire to build an organisation
pledged to unadulterated non-violence. At the
same time I believe that true believers in out
and out non-violence should have the strength
to stand alone. They will thus be soldiers and
their own generals at the same time. If the
non-violent army of my dreams can be set up,
it will put an end to the existing disbelief in
the power of non-violence. Indeed the Congress
will itself be converted to complete non-violence.
What Should He Bo?
Q. I am a Congressman and I believe in out
and out non-violence. I am also a member of
Congress committees. You have advised people
like me to leave the Congress. I am in touch
with the villagers in my area. Should I con-
tinue to bring these into the Congress fold or
allow them to remain outside ?
A. This is not a good question. So long as
you are in the Congress, it is your duty to
persuade others to join its ranks. You should
explain the Congress policy to them. Those
who join the Congress with an understanding of
the real difference between himsa and ahimsa
will do so knowingly. They will join the Con-
gress either with the desire to try to bring the
Congress on to the path of complete non-
violence or to support it in its present policy .
Your duty is to explain the position fully to
them and freely admit as many as wish to join.
You may resign from the Congress only when
the date for leaving it is fixed. Until then you
are to carry on as you have been doing heretofore.
What Should a Briton Do and Not Do?
Q. In your appeal to ‘Every Briton’ you say:
“You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini
to take what they want You will give all
your ‘earthly possessions’ but never your souls
or your minds You will refuse to own
allegiance to them.” Please explain clearly what
a Briton should or should not do. I ask the
question because your answer will have a bear-
ing on the duty of every satyagrahi.
A. Not to yield your soul to the conqueror
means that you will refuse to do that which
your conscience forbids you to do. Suppose the
254 HARIJAN { August 18, 1S40
enemy ’ were to ask you to rub your nose on
the ground or to pull your ears or to go through
such humiliating performances, you would not
submit to any of these humiliations. But if he
robs you of your possessions, you wull yield
them because as a votary of ahimsa you have
from the beginning decided that earthly posses-
sions have nothing to do with your soul. That
which you look upon as your own you may
keep only so long as the world allows you to
own it.
Not to yield your mind means that you will
not give way to any temptation. Man is often-
times weak-minded enough to be caught in the
snare of greed and honeyed words. We see this
happening daily in our social life. A weak-
minded man can never be a satyagrahi. The
latter’s ‘ no ’ is invariably a ‘ no ’ and his ‘ yes ’
an eternal ‘yes’. Such a man alone has the
strength to be a devotee of truth and ahimsa.
But ' here one must know the difference between
steadfastness and obstinacy. If after having said
‘ yes ’ or ' no ’ one finds out that the decision
was wrong and in spite of that knowledge clings
to it, that is obstinacy and folly. It is necessary
to think things out carefully and thoroughly
before coming to- any decision.
The meaning of refusal to own allegiance is
clear. You will not bow to the supremacy of
the victor, you will not help him to attain his
object. Herr Hitler has never dreamt of possess-
ing Britain. He wants the British to admit
defeat. The victor can then demand anything
he likes from the vanquished, and the latter
has perforce to yield. But if defeat is not ad-
mitted, the enemy will fight until he has killed
his opponent. A satyagrahi, however, is dead to
his body even before the enemy attempts to kill
him, i. e. he is free from attachment to his body
and only lives in the victory of the soul. There-
fore, when he is already thus dead, why should
he yearn to kill anyone? To die in the act of
kiUing is in essence to die defeated. Because, if
the enemy is unable to get what he wants from
you alive, he will decide to get it after killing
you. If, on the other hand, he realises that you
have not the remotest thought in your mind of
raising your hand against him even for the sake
of your life, he will lack the zest to kill you.
Every hunter has had this experience. No one
has ever heard of anyone hunting cows.
You may find that I have not answered the
questions that you had in your mind. I have
made a humble effort and dealt with your general
question by giving you a few homely examples.
I hope that from them you will be able to
deduce answers to the questions left unanswered.
Dignity of the soul and self-respect ate inter-
preted differiently by different persons. I *am
aware that self-respect is often misinterpreted.
The over-sensitive man may see disrespect or
hurt in almost everything. Such a man does not
really understand what self-respect is. That has
been my experience in many cases. But no harm
accrues even if a non-violent man holds mistaken
notions of self-respect. He can die cheerfully for
the sake of what he believes to be his dignity
and self-respect. Only he has no right to injure
or kill the supposed wrong-doer.
Sevagram, 13-8-40
The Case of My First Son
Q. You have failed to take even your own
son with you, and he has gone astray. May it
■not, therefore, be well for you to rest content
with putting your own house in order?
A. This may be taken to be a taunt, but I
do not take it so. For the question had occurr-
ed to me before it did to anyone else. I am
a believer in previous births and rebirths. All
our relationships are the result of the samskars
we carry from our previous births. God’s laws
are inscrutable and are the subject of endless
search. No one will fathom them.
This is how I regard the case of my son. I
regard the birth of a bad son to me as the
result of my evil past whether of this life or
previous. My first son was born when I was
in a state of infatuation. Besides, he grew up
whilst I was myself growing and whilst I knev/
myself very little. I do not claim to know
myself fully even today, but I certainly know
myself better then I did then. For years he
remained away from me, and his upbringing
was not entirely in my hands. That is why he
has always been at a loose end. His grievance
against me has always been that I sacrificed
him and his brothers at the altar of what
I wrongly believed to be public good. My
other sons have laid more or less the same
blame at my door, but with a good deal of
hesitation, and they have generously forgiven
me. My eldest son was the direct victim of my
experiments — radical changes in my life and so
he cannot .forget what he regards as my blunders.
Under the circumstances I believe I am myself
the cause of the loss of my son, and have there-
fore learnt patiently to bear it. And yet it is
not quite correct to say that I have lost him.
For it is my constant prayer that God may
make him see the error of his ways and for-
give me my shortcomings, if any, in serving
him. It is my firm faith that man is by nature
going higher, and so I have not at all lost hope
that some day he will wake up from his slumber
of ignorance. Thus he is part of my field of
experiments in ahimsa. When or whether I
shall succeed I have never bothered to know.
It is enough for my own satisfaction that I do
not slacken my efforts in doing what I know
to be my duty. • ‘To work thou hast the
right, never to the fruit thereof’ is one of
the golden precepts of the Gita.
Sevagram, 5-8-40
( Translated from Gujarati )
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For selling copies of Hanjan in various towns o£
India. For terms apply to the Manager, Harijan—
Poona 4.
HARIJAN
AUGUST 18, 1940
NAZISM IN ITS NAKEDNESS
(By M. K. Gandhi )
A Dutch friend writes:
‘‘You will perhaps be able to remember me having
made a drawing of you at Rom. Rolland’s in 1931.
Even before meeting you in person I followed the
Indian movement with interest, in particular your
leadership and your methods of combat. I am a
Dutchman and lived for many years in Germany,
where I had built up a living as an artist. Nazism,
which gained hold in Germany seven years ago,
caused me many conscientious doubts, especially with
regard to the schooling of my three children. I
oft3n thought of writing to you to ask your advice;
I knew, however, how fully your time was occupied
■and did not want to embarrass you with my difficul-
ties. Eventually I managed to settle my affairs to
my own, satisfaction.
' It is just one year ago since I left my house in
Munich to spend some time in Holland. When war
broke out in September we did not return to Germany
but remained in Holland, since I had no wish to
expose my children to the mental state of a country
at war. On 10th May, by the use of every possible
subtle trick, Holland was overpowered. After four
■days of the most ruthless bombing we fled to England
and are now on our w^ay to Java, the country of
my birth, where I hope to find work, not as one of
the group which exploits the colony but as a guest.
Europe has put its trust in violence, but for
centuries past in the wars of soldier against soldier
certain rules of chivalry were observed. Nazism has
thrown that code overboard, and I can say with a
clear conscience that no country has ever made use
of such vicious treachery, villainy and cowardice in
attaining its ends as modern Germany. The upbring-
ing even of little children is based on the exercise
of violence. Nazism systematically trains children to
cunning and treachery even tov/ards their own parents,
to immorality and much more in the same spirit.
When Indian students, who in the course of years
have visited me at home, enthused about Germany,
they were merely deceived by the gloss which Nazism
knows so well how to lay on. A short explanation
always convinced them of the tremendous difference
between * Indian National Socialism’, as they often
called your movement, and Hitler’s Nazism.
Two books, The Revolution of Destruction and
Hitler Speaks, have been written by Hermann
Rauschning, a former intimate of Hitler. These books
give a very clear impression of the movement in
Germany, and should be read by all thinking people.
Hitler aims at nothing less than the destruction of
all moral values, and in the bulk of German youth
he has already attained that end.
Your article in Harijan about the Jewish problem
in Germany particularly interested me since I had
many Jewish friends there. You say in it that, if
ever a war were justified, it is this one against
Germany. In the same article, however, you write
that, if you were a Jew, you would attempt to
soften the hearts of the Nazis by non-violence.
Recently you also advised Britain and the British
:people to surrender their “ beautiful island to the
^55
German invader, without resistance by force^ and to
conquer him afterwards by non-violence. There is
probably no man in the whole history who has a
better knowledge of the practice of non-violence
than yourself. Your views have awakened veneration
and love for you in millions of hearts not only in
India but in the outside world as well. Even your
opponents are compelled eventually to honour you
and admit the rightness of your aims and methoos.
But your opponents are the British, a people that,
though like every other it has its weak points, in
spile of its business sense, retains a heart.
Through Nazism, the German youth has lost ail
individuality of thought and feeling. The great mass
of young people has lost its heart and is degraded
to the level of a machine. The German conduct of
the war is absolutely mechanical; machines are
driven by robot men who have no qualms of con-
science about crushing under their tanks the bodies
of women and children, bombing open towns, killing
hundreds of thousands of women and children, and
on occasion using them as a screen for their advance,
or distributing poisoned food. These are all facts, the
truth of which I can vouch for. I have spoken
with many of your followers about the possibility of
applying non-violence against Germany. A friend cf
mine, whose work it is to cross-examine German pri-
soners of war in England, was deeply shocked by the
spiritual narrowness and heartlessness of these young
men, and agreed with me that non-violence could not
be applied with any success against such robots. The
most terrible side of the question is the fact that
Hitler has been able in the short space of seven
years to sink German youth to such depths of de-
moralisation. A glance at either of the books mentioned
above will convince you of that. I know of no other
example in history of a people sinking spiritually
so low. ^
I hope that my letter has not trespassed too much
upon your time. On the return journey to Europe
in a happier time which, if God wills, may soon be
possible, I shall try to bring my wife and children
for a short visit to you.”
The friend has sent his name and address.
But I withhold both for fear of harm coming
to him through unnecessary publicity. The letter
must be valued on its own intrinsic merits.
What, however, concerns me is not so muck
his characterisation of Nazism as his belief that
non-violent action may have no eflfect on Hitler
or the Germans whom he has turned into so
many robots. Non-violent action, if it is ade-
quate, must influence Hitler and easily the duped
Germans. No man can be turned into a perma-
nent machine. Immediately the dead weight o£
authority is lifted from his head, he begins to
function normally. To lay down any such general
proposition as my friend has, betrays ignorance
of the working of non-violence. The British
Government can take no risks, can make no
experiments in which they have not even a
workable faith. But if ever an opportunity could
be given to me, in spite of my physical limita-
tions. I should not hesitate to try what would
256
HARIJAN
[ august 18, 1940
appear to be impossible. For in ahimsa it is
not the votary who acts in his own strength.
Strength comes from God. If, therefore, the way
is opened for me to go, Ke will give me the
physical endurance and cbthe my word with
the needed power. Anyway all through my
life I have acted in that faith. Never have I
attributed any independent strength to myself.
This may be considered by men who do not
believe in a higher Power than themselves as a
drawback and a helpless state. I must admit
that limitation of ahimsa, if it be accounted
as such.
Sevagram, 6-S-40
TRAVANCORE
( By M. K, Gandhi )
Shri P. J. Sebastian sends me the following
‘ true copy ' of the press note of the Travancore
Government ;
“ The Government of Travancore have observed
with regret that, in the columns of his newspaper
*Harijan’, Mr. Ghandi has afforded hospitality to
statements emanating from Messrs. Achuthan and
G. Eamachandran, the former being the latest Presi-
dent and latter the propagandist of the moribund
Travancore State Congress, Evidently it is hoped by
these statements and the comments of Mr. Ghandi
to force an outside enquiry and outside mediation
upon the State. Mr. Achuthan who is a Travancore
subject is reported to be moving between British
Malabar and Cochin and his statement was published
some weeks ago. This Government had resolved to
ignore it realising as they did that such statements
have been merely variants of the baseless assertions
made by Mr. Eamachandran repeated in different
phraseology.
In view'^owever to the publicity which accom-
panies statements associated with Mr. Ghandi and
in order that the public may not be misled, as Mr.
Ghandi allows himself to be misled by such state-
ments, the Travancore Governm.ent propose to take
appropriate legal proceedings against Messrs. Achuthan
and G. Eamachandran in the course of which the
truth or falsity of their averments can be tested.
Huzur Cutchery, Trivandrum,
29th July 1940.
(Sd.) M, K. Nilakanta Aiyar.
Chief Secretary to Government”
I have published the text without interfering
with the spelling or the grammar. In sending
the copy Shri Sebastian says:
“ It has not up to now appeared in any of the
Madras papers. The object of the press note seems
to be to warn the Travancore papers not to copy
the article on ‘Travancore’ in the Harijan of the
28th July. It is worthy of note that none of the
Travancore papers has published the Harijan article
of the 28th, though the article of the 21st together
with the reply of the Dewan had been published.”
I am publishing everything important coming
to me about Travancore because I believe it
to be true. The threatened proceedings against
Shri Eamachandran and Achuthan will not
disprove the statements published. They will
confirm the impression that the Travancore State
authorities are determined by all means at their
disposal to crush the movement for liberty. If
past experience is any guide, this Travancore
repression will fail to crush the movement.
Note how the issues are evaded in the press
note. There is no demand for an ‘ outside
inquiry’ or ‘outside mediation’, nor is there
any question of force. The Dewan himself and
many others in Travancore are outsiders. But
they are not forced upon the State when the
Maharaja engages them, and the use of the word
‘outsider’ ceases to have any meaning for the
appointed It is preposterous to use the word
‘ force ’ for friendly suggestions by the Press or
appeals by State subjects, or to use words ‘out-
siders ’ and * outside mediation * fer suggestions to
the State to bring impartial judges from outside.
Were Justice Hunter, himself a non-Punjabi,
and his non-Punjabi colleagues forced upon the
Punjab Government when in response to public
agitation Government appointed the Hunter
Committee ? Or was Justice Ramesam forced
upon Sir Mirza Ismail when he appointed that
learned outsider to conduct an inquiry into the
Viduraswatham shooting ? The public is bound
to give a sinister meaning to this gross misuse
of the language by the Travancore authorities.
Again, if the Travancore people arc hostile to
or apathetic to the doings of the State Congress,
where is the occasion for the suppression of the
State Congress bulletins and newspaper comments?
Just causes truthfully and non-violently conduct-
ed have always survived repression and drawn
sympathy from unexpected quarters. I call such
sympathy divine help. God works in mysterious
ways. Let the persecuted State Congress people
have faith that God is with them.
Sevagram, 4-8-40
Empire or Democracy ? by L. Barnes.
Price Rs. 5“10 + Postage 4 Annas.
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4
CONTENTS Page
Moral Support ... M. K. Gandhi 249
Adult Education through
Handicrafts — I ... Pyarelal 251
Implications of Constructive
Programme ... M. K. Gandhi 252
Question Box ... M. IC. Gandhi 253
Nazism in Its Nakedness ... M. K. Gandhi 255
Travancore ... M. K. Gandhi 256
Notes :
‘ One Step Forward ’ ... M, K. G. 250
A Convincing Argument M. K. G. 250
Deeply Distressing ... M. K. G. 252
Printed and Published by Vitbal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushau Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
Subscription Rates — INLAND : One year, Es. 4; six. months, Rs. 2-8. FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5-8 or 8 sh. or 2 8.
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Editor ; MAHADEV DESAa
VoL. VIII No. 28 ] POONA — SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
Dr. LOHIA again
( By M- K* Gandhi )
By courtesy of Shri Achut Patwardhan I have
a copy of Dr. Lohia’s statement before the
court and the judgment of the presiding magis-
trate. The whole of Dr. Lohia’s statement is
sound, but I resist the temptation to give it in
full. Here, however, is its permanent part :
In all our activities we have to be non-violent.
Non-violence is dictated not only by the circumstances
in our country but by considerations that operate
throughout the world. It is not only a practical
necessity, it is an ethical desirability. Whatever
little confusion there might be on this point due to
faulty reporting is set aside by the reporter himself,
I am reported to have said : ‘ When we have re-
course to weapons we become weak of heart. Those
who rely on weapons do not rely on their hearts.
They turn into slaves of their own weapons. They
have no strength left in themselves.’
I am an opponent of the old cult of the lathi,
and its modern equivalent the cult of the aeroplane.
There is an inner contradiction between these cults
and the enduring of human life, a contradiction
which is daily becoming more fierce. The next
twenty years will show which wins, and the dualism
cannot last longer.
Should human life endure, there can be only one
form of organisation. Adult democracy must obtain
throughout the world, and there will be no place in
it for imperialism, nor for capitalism. I have given
an indication in my speech of this form of govern-
ment as it will affect the Indian people. It was
with a view to bring' into the foreground this principle
of adult democracy that I suggested an immediate
peace plan to Mahatma Gandhi. I claim no origina-
lity for this plan whose items are:
1. All peoples will be free. Those newly acquiring
freedom will determine their constitution through a
constituent assembly.
2. All races are equal, and there will be no racial
privileges in any part of the world. There will be
no political bar to anyone settling wherever he likes.
3. All credits and investments owned by the
Government and nationals of one country in another
will be scrapped or submitted for impartial review to
international tribunals. They will then be owned not
by individuals but by the State.
When these three principles will have been accept-
ed by the peoples of the world, a fourth will
automatically come into operation.
4. There will be total disarmament.
I am happy in the knowledge that Mahatma
Gandhi has endorsed this peace plan.
Let me in conclusion state that I have no ill-
will towards any people. I have lived among the
German people and liked their thoroughness of
enquiry, the scientific bent of their mind, and their
efficiency in action. I am unhappy that they have
today to carry on their shoulders a system which
results in war and conquest. I have no intimate
knowledge of the British people. I dare say that
they have their virtues. I may be permitted to
quote from my speech: *1 do not want the destruc-
tion of Britain. The British have done evil to us,
but I do not want to do evil to them.’ Again, I am
unhappy that the British people have to carry on
their shoulders today a system which has enslaved
the peoples 'of the world.”
Of Dr. Lohia this is what the court has to say :
“The accused is a highly intellectual and cultured
gentleman, perhaps with a doctorate degree of some
European University, a man of high principles and
morals whose honesty of purpose nobody can doubt.
He does not mind suffering for his convictions and
does not care much for his sentence or its duration..
We certainly do not punish him for holding certain
political views about the present Government, for the
very claim of the Government that it is democratic
and run on public opinion entitles the public to criti-
cise it according to his light by constitutional means,
but we must protect such Government from embar-
rassment in her relation with the masses who are
bound to be disaffected by a speech like the one
the accused has delivered in Dostpur, and parti-
cularly when the British nation and Empire is in
grip with the most unscrupulous enemy. I therefore
consider that his detention in ^ail for a long
duration or until the present cloud is drifted away is
very desirable and to that end in view I sentence him
to two years R. I. He is recommended for B Class.'^
Then why has he been rewarded with rigor-
ous imprisonment ? The duration of the term I
understand. He must be kept from the sup-
posed mischief. I wonder whether the fact of
the imprisonment will not aggravate the mischief.
Of this, the Government must be the judge. But
the people will remember that love of one’s
country and outspokenness are a crime in a
country where the State is irresponsible to the
people. Dr. Lohia and other Congressmen s im-
prisonments are so many hammer-strokes that
must weaken the chain that binds India. The
Government is inviting the Congress to start civil
disobedience and deliver the last blow it would
fain have reserved for a better day — better
for the British. It is a pity.
Sevagram, 21-8-40
258 HARIJAN [ AUGUST 25, 1940
GANDHI SCHOLARSHIPS
33
B. V. Kamble
I. A. Sr.
5
List of Harijan students who have been granted
33
B. D. Kamble
B. A. Jr.
5
Gandhi Scholarships for
the year 1940-41.
93
N. N. Pendhari
I. A.
7
8
Name Course of study Amount p, m.
1,
N. M. Dhivde
S, T. C.
5
Andhra Rs. As.
31
S. A. Pote
31
5
Shri
D. Venkanna
B. A. Jr.
5
Mysore
»»
K. Venkateshwarlu
L. I. M. II yr.
10
Shri
M. R. Narasimhiah
Practical Electric
51
A. Hanumanthu
I. A. Sr.
5
Training
5
35
E. C. Venkiah
Veterinary Course
7
8
33
B. M. Nachiketha
Vedic Culture
10
33
G. Anandayya
I. A. Sr.
5
Nizam Dominion
. 33
L. Bullayya
B. A. Jr.
5
Shri
K. Veeraswamy
I. A. Sr.
5
13
U. Ram Rao
B.Sc. Agriculture 10
33
B. S. Rajarathnam
B. A. Sr.
5
33
M. Ramanuja Doss
L. I. M.
10
31
B. Pantiya
M. B. B. S.
10
Assam
•3
T. Hanumaiah
I. A. Sr.
5
Miss
Surabala Das
B. A. Jr.
10
Orissa
Shri
Maheshwar Das
Overseer’s course
7
8
Shri
Purushottam Sethi
I. A. Jr.
7
8
33
Krishna Lai Biswas
„ 2nd yr
7
93
Anant Naik
I. Sc. Jr.
7
8
13
Bhabendra Nath Das
M. Sc.
15
33
Purushottam Das
Medical
15
33
Hemeshwar Das
B. A. Jr.
7
8
31
Sitaram Svain
B. A. Jr.
10
^ 13
Dhirendra Nath Das
L. M. P.
7
31
Dinbandhu Bhoi
I. A. Sr.
10
33
Narendra Nath Barooah
I. A. Sr.
7
8
Punjab
Bemr
Shri
Khushi Ram
I. A. Jn
5
Miss
C. M. Borkar
I. A. Sr.
7
8
11
Surat Singh
I. A. Sr.
6
Shri
R. T, Chin
33 31
5
11
Ram Narayan
I. A. Sr.
6
Bihar
31
Charan Singh
Medical
20
Sfari Jagdis Narayan Choudhary
Shastri Course
10
11
Gugan Ram
I. A. Sr.
6
C. P. Hindi
11
Sardar Singh
B. A. Sr.
10
Shri
Chhotelal Katiya
Engineering
10
31
Sant Ram Perkashi
I. A. Jr.
10
33
Shivlal Mahobia
B. A. Sr.
7
8
Sind
33
Jugal Kishor Katia
B. A. Sr,
7
8
Shri
N. P. Oad
Law Final
15
33
D. J. Madke
Engineering
10
Tamil Nad
« 33
Laxminarayan J. Jharia
L Sc. final
7
8
Shri
K. Atmanathan
Veterinary
10
C. P. Marathi
33
G. Venkatappa
M. B. B. S.
20
Shri Udhao Venkat Rao Kamble
I. A. Jr.
7
8
If
M. S. Mani
Sanitary
, If
U. S. Charbhe
B. A. Sr.
5
Inspector's Course
10
-If
M. D. Panchbhai
B. A. Sr.
7
8
11
M. V. CheUiah
Power Spinning
S. S. Nikhade
B. A. Sr.
5
and Weaving
S. T. Ramteke
L.M.P. 4th yr.
10
Supervisor’s
33
M. A. Chavan
B. A. Sr.
7
8
Course
7
8
Miss
S. H. Shinde
I. Sc. Sr.
5
91
A. Vein
Sanitary Inspec-
.
Central India
tor’s Course
10
Shri K. C. Yadava (Gwalior St) L A. Jr.
10
Shri C. N. Rathnam
Vidwan
7
8
31
Anant Ballal ( Indore )
I. A. Jr.
10
33
K. S. Perumal
L. 1. M.
10
Delhi
Miss
G. Deveerammal
I. A. Sr.
5
Shri
Ram Krishna Rajar
I. A. Sr.
7
8
U. P. East
Gujarat
Shri
Vishwanath Ram
I, Sc. Final
7
8
Shri
Br. Bhismadeva
Vedic Course
31
Chokheylal
I1 39
10
at Gurukul Kangri
10
U. P. West
33
I. N. Bhagat
LA.
5
Shri Jahan Singh
Engineering
10
*■
Karnatak
39
Sitaram Jatava
Advanced
Shri
Y. C. Shankaranand *
M. A.
15
Ayurvedic
12
3*
K. Honnappa
B. Sc.
12
11
Swami Ramanand
Shastri
5
Kerala
—
Total Rs.
662
8
Miss
K. J. Jankibai
M. B. B. S.
25
Note: 1. Some cises from
Berar, Bihar,
C.
P-
33
T. K. Narayani
B. A. Jr.
5
Hindi, Karnatak, Kerala, U.
P. East and
u.
P.
Shri
T. Prabhakara Sharma
Secondary Trainin
West are still under consideration.
31
K. R. Narayanan
B. A. ( Hons. )
5
2.
All applications from Bengal are still
under
Maharashtra
.consideration. The aggregate amount of scholarships
Shri
S. R. Kamble
I. Sc. Jr.
5
will
be Rs. 70 p. m.
S3
M, D. Kamble
I. A. Sr.
5
3.
All scholarships in Tamil Nad are for a period
93
D. S. Budhaji
1| 33
5
of 10 months only.
93
S. K. Dige
B. A. Sr.
7
8
Shyamlal
19
S. R. Kharat
I. A. Jr.
5
Delhi, 6-7-40 Asst. Secretary, H.
S. S,
AUGUST 25, 1940 1 HARIJAN
VILLAGE RECONSTRUCTION
IN THE SOUTH
Shri N. S. Varadachari sends reports of rural
reconstruction work in five centres which are
worthy of notice. He says the heartening factor
is that the initiative and labour is all due to
the spirit that has animated the villagers
themselves. Not much money has been spent.
Whatever was needed came from the villages.
In some cases Government grants were also
available. The work was started two years ago
in the Rajaji centre and a year ago in the
others. The new centres sprang up because the
people asked for help and have shown an
eagerness and willingness to learn how to
better their living conditions and surroundings.
From one village in the Rajaji centre in
1938 the work is now carried on in 12. The
total population of all the villages is 2,532-
Thirty furlongs of new roads have been laid.
Government has contributed a certain amount
towards this work. But the villagers have made
themselves responsible for keeping the roads in
good condition. The streets are kept clean by
the women in one of the centres. The sanitary
condition of the neighbourhood has changed
beyond recognition. The Rajaji centre has 9
silage pits which arc well kept. These arc
being installed in the other centres wherever
possible. Well water is protected from pollu-
tion, and wherever there is not an ample supply
efforts are being made to make the deficiency
good. 4 wells and 1 bore well for Harijans
have been sunk. Where drainage water can be
utilised with advantage small kitchen gardens
are encouraged, both private and community.
In the Rajaji centre each Harijan family has
got its own garden. In one village every house
has a manure pit in its backyard at a suitable
distance from the living quarters. Care of
cattle is an important part of the programme.
In one centre the cattle shed is dug to a depth
of 18 inches and filled with soft fine sand
which forms a soft porous bed for the animals.
Once in 2 or 3 days the sand is turned over,
and every month or six weeks when it requires
to be changed it is all carted into manure pits.
There is thus no wastage and no smell or dirt
in the shed itself. There are 6 schools and 352
boy and girl pupils in all the centres. A literacy
campaign has been commenced among the
adults. There are 519 literates in these centres
at the moment. The Rajaji centre boasts a
library with 620 books for which there is
ample demand.
Existing industries in the Rajaji centre are
basket-making, pottery, date palm weaving, black-
smithy and carpentry. It has not been possible to
get figures of the actual amounts earned through
these. Malt and hand-pounded rice have been
introduced. The entire process of manufacturing
malt from ragi and cholam and biscuit-making
from malt was taught by the Asst. Agricultural
Chemist, Coimbatore, with the result ^,that 3
259
families are regularly making malt and selling
it in Chittoor. They have sold Rs. 91/12/-
worth since last October. 416 putties of paddy
were pounded and used in the Rajaji centre
villages since the last report. Spinning has been
started in all the centres, and some villagers are
growing their own cotton. There are 386 spinners,
108 charkhas, 138 carders, and 309 square yards
of cloth have so far been produced. Attempts
at bee-keeping and paper-making from bamboo
have also been made. For various reasons these
have not so far met with success, but they are
not going to be given up.
Shri N. S. Varadachari is confident that as
the villagers are keen the work will endure
and grow.
Sevagram, 19-8-40
i Abridged by A. FC.)
Asoka and Non-violence
Principal Thadani sends me the following lines
which should be read with interest:
“ The general policy of the Congress has undergone
a radical change, and one does not know what this
War may bring about. I am not a politician; but
it was during the last Great War that I thought
of what you have advised the British people today.
And then I conceived of Asoka^ which I wrote
during the course of the War, but published later.
I felt during the last War that, if one side suffered
itself to be destroyed without touching its opponent,
not only would the War be over, but a new order
of life would ensue. And then I thought of Asoka’s
conversion after the conquest of Kalinga, and imagined
that the people of that country had offered such a
non-violent opposition to Asoka, suffered themselves
to be slain without slaying a single soldier of the
King, and it was this that brought about the change
in the heart of Asoka.
I do not know if you ever read that little book
of mine, but perhaps it might interest you now. I
have been reading it, and perhaps you might find
time for a few lines if not the whole poem :
Go forth and die upon the battlefield;
Go forth and live immortal in your deed;
Go forth and die, to live for evermore.
Be slain, but slay not — die, but do not yield;
Nor fight, nor fly, nor kill, nor cause to bleed;
But suffer and be saved for evermore.
The world is wounded — let her heart be healed;
The world is fettered — let her soul be freed;
And free and whole, 'live on for evermore-
Go forth and die, ye earth’s unbroken shield;
Go forth and die — thus have the gods decreed;
Go forth, to live anew for evermore.”
Sevagram, 13-8-40 M. K. G.
Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Dasgupta
1384 pages. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages.
219 illustrations. Price Rs. 5 cloth-bound; By V. P.
P. Rs. 6. Rs. 6 leather-bound; By V. P. P. Rs. 7
Available '‘at Harijan oificei — Poona 4-
260
HARIJAN
[ August 25, 1940
4~l atij
Aug. 25
1940
EQUAL DISTRIBUTION
( By M. K. Gandhi )
In last week’s article on the Constructive
Programme I mentioned equal distribution of
wealth as one of the 13 items.
The real implication of equal distribution is
that each man shall have the wherewithal to
supply all his natural needs and no more. For
example, if one man has a weak digestion and
requires only a quarter of a pound of flour for
his bread and another needs a pound, both
should be in a position to satisfy their wants.
To bring this ideal into being the entire social
order has got to be reconstructed. A society
based on non-violence cannot nurture any other
ideal. We may not perhaps be able to realise
the goal, but we must bear it in mind and
work unceasingly to near it. To the same
extent as we progress towards our goal we
shall find contentment and happiness, and to that
■extent too shall we have contributed towards the
bringing into being of a non-violent society.
It is perfectly possible for an individual to
adopt this way of life without having to wait
for others to do so. And if an individual can
observe a certain rule of conduct, it follows
that a group of individuals can do likewise. It
is necessary for me to emphasise the fact that
no one need wait for anyone else in order to
adopt a right course. Men generally hesitate to
make a beginning if they feel that the objective
•cannot be had in its entirety. Such an attitude
of mind is in reality a bar to progress.
Now let us consider how equal distribution
can be brought about through non-violence.
The first step towards it is for him who has
made this ideal part of his being to bring
about the necessary changes in his personal
life. He would reduce his wants to a minimum,
bearing in mind the poverty of India. His
•earnings would be free of dishonesty. The
desire for speculation would be renounced. His
habitation would be in keeping with the new
mode of life. There would be self-restraint
■exercised in every sphere of life. When he has
done aid that is possible in his own life, then
■•only will he be in a position to preach this
ideal among his associates and neighbours.
Indeed at the root of this doctrine of equal
distribution must lie that of the trusteeship of
the wealthy for the superfluous wealth possessed
by them. For according to the doctrine they
may not possess a rupee more than their neigh-
bours. How is this to be brought about? Non-
violently ? Or should the wealthy be dispossessed
of their possessions ? To do this we would
naturally have to resort to violence. This violent
action cannot benefit society. Society will be the
poorer, for it will lose the gifts of a man who
knows how to accumulate wealth. Therefore the
non-violent way is evidently superior. The rich
man will be left in possession of his wealth, of
which he will use what he reasonably requires
for his personal needs and will act as a trustee
for the remainder to be used for the society.
In this argument honesty on the part of the
trustee is assumed.
As soon as a man looks upon himself as a
servant of society, earns for its sake, spends for
its benefit, then purity enters into his earnings
and there is ahimsa in his venture. Moreover,
if men’s minds turn towards this way of life,
there will come about a peaceful revolution in
society, and that without any bitterness.
It may be asked whether history at any time
records such a change in human nature. Such
changes have certainly taken place in individuals.
One may not perhaps be able to point to them
in a whole society. But this only means that
up till now there has never been an experiment
on a large scale in non-violence. Somehow or
other the wrong belief has taken possession of
us that ahimsa is pre-eminently a weapon for
individuals and its use should therefore be limited
to that sphere. In fact this is not the case.
Ahimsa is definitely an attribute of society. To
convince people of this truth is at once my
effort and my experiment. In this age of wonders
no one will say that a thing or idea is worth-
less because it is new. To say it is
because it is difficult is again not in consonance
with the spirit of the age. Things undreamt of
are daily being seen, the impossible is ever
becoming possible. We are constantly being
astonished these days at the amazing discoveries
in the field of violence. But I maintain that
far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible
discoveries will be made in the field of non-
violence. The history of religion is full of such
examples. To try to root out religion itself from
society is a wild goose chose. And were such
an attempt to succeed, it would mean the des-
truction of society. Superstition, evil customs and
other imperfections creep in from age to age and
mar religion for the time being. They come and
go. But religion itself remains. Because the exis-
tence of the world in a broad sense depends on
religion. The ultimate definition of religion may
be said to be obedience to the law of God. God
and His law are synonymous terms. Therefore
God signifies an unchanging and living law. No
one has ever really found Him, But avatars
and prophets have, by means of their ‘tapasya’,
given to mankind a faint glimpse of the
eternal law.
If, however, in spite of the utmost effort,
the rich do not become guardians of the poor
in the true sense of the term and the latter
are more and more crushed and die of hunger,
what is to be done? In trying to find the
solution to this riddle I have lighted on non-
August 25, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
261
violent non-cooperation and civil disobedience as
the right and infallible means. The rich cannot
accumulate wealth without the co-operation of
the poor in society. Man has been conversant with
violence from the beginning, for he has inherited
this strength from the animal in his nature.
It was only when he rose from the state of a
quadruped (animal) to that of a biped (man)
that the knowledge of the strength of ahimsa
..entered into his soul. This knowledge has
jrown within him slowly but surely. If this
knowledge were to penetrate to and spread
emongst the poor, they would become strong
and would learn how to free themselves by
means of non-violence from the crushing
inequalities which have brought them to '*^the
verge of starvation.
I scarcely need to write anything about non-
cooperation and civil disobedience, for the
readers of Hanjanbandhu are familiar with
these and their working.
Sevagram, 19-8-40
(.Translated from Gujarati)
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE
I
The Scope of Ahimsa
“ You see that I am answering every one of
your questions straightaway without the slightest
hesitation. That is because the great question
underlying your questions possesses me and I
have rehearsed to myself every one of the situ-
ations arising out of the various implications of
ahimsa.*’ These words were uttered by Gandhiji
towards the close of a long and interesting dis-
course with a number of friends from Poona
who had come for the sole purpose of clearing
their doubts on ahimsa. They were all out and
■out believers in non-violence, or if they were
not, they had come all the way from Poona, in
order to be such believers, after their doubts
were cleared. Balasaheb Kher, the ex-Prime
.Minister of Bombay, accompanied them. They
had drawn up an exhaustive questionnaire, even
■ at the risk of making some of their questions
trite, for they did not want to leave any room
.for doubt.
The first question was about the limits and
implications of ahimsa and the extent of its
application. Should one stop with the human
.species or extend it to all creation ?
Gandhiji said : “I was not prepared for this
question. For the Congress ahimsa is naturally
‘Confined to the political field and therefore only
to the human species. Hence out and out non-
violence means for our purpose every variety
•of non-violence on the political field. In concrete
terms it covers family relations, relations with
• constituted authority, internal disorders and exter-
nal aggression. Put in another way it covers
all human relations.”
” Then what about meat-eating and egg-eating ?
-Do they consist with] non-violence ? ”
“They do. Otherwise we should have to exclude
Mussulmans and Christians and a vast number
of Hindus as possible co-workers in ahimsa.
I have known many meat-eaters to be far
more non-violent than vegetarians.”
“ But what if we had to give them up for
the sake of a principle ? ”
“ Oh yes, we would, if we had to compro-
mise our principle. Our principle is defined as
I have shown already. ”
A Wrong Analogy
“ If, as you have said, Polish resistance to the
German invasion was almost non-violent, and you
would thus seem to reconcile yourself with it,
why do you object to the Wardha resolution
of the Working Committee ? ”
“Surely,” said Gandhiji, “there is no analogy
between the two cases. If a man tights with
his sword single-handed against a horde of dacoits
armed to the teeth, I should say he is fighting
almost non-violently. Haven’t I said to our
women that, if in defence of their honour they
used their nails and teeth and even a dagger.
I should regard their conduct non-violent ? She
does know the distinction between himsa and
ahimsa. She acts spontaneously. Supposing a
mouse in fighting a cat tried to resist the
cat with his sharp beak, would you call that
mouse violent? In the same way, for the Poles
to stand valiantly against the German hordes
vastly superior in numbers, military equipment
and strength, was almost non-violence. I should
not mind repeating that statement over and over
again. You must give its full value to the word
* almost’. But we are 400 millions here. If we
were to organise a big army and prepare our-
selves to fight foreign aggression, how could
we by any stretch of imagination call ourselves
almost non-violent, let alone non-violent? The
Poles were unprepared for the way in which
the enemy swooped down upon them. When
we talk of armed preparation, we contemplate
preparation to meet any violent combination
with our superior violence. If India ever prepared
herself that way, she would constitute the
greatest menace to world peace. For if we take
that path, we will also have to choose the
path of exploitation like the European nations.
That is why I still regret the moment when
my words lacked the power of convincing the
Sardar and Rajaji. By having passed that resolu-
tion we proclaimed to the world that the ahimsa
we had subscribed to all these years was not
really ahimsa but a form of himsa.”
Administering Non-violently
Q. “ How will you run your administration
non-violently ? ”
A. “If you assume that we would have won
independence by non-violent means, it means that
the bulk of the country had been organised non-
violently. Without the vast majority of people
having become non-violent, we could not attain
non-violent Swaraj. If, therefore, we attain
Swaraj by purely non-violent means, it should
262
HARIJAN
[ August 25, 194&
not be difficult for us to carry on the adminis-
tiation without the military. The goondas too
will then have come under our control. If, for
instance, in Sevagram we have five or seven
goondas in a population of seven hundred who
are non-violently organised, the five or seven
will either live under the discipline of the rest
or- leave' the village.
“But you will see that I am answering the
question with the utmost caution, and my truth
makes me admit that we might have to main-
tain a police force. But the police will be
afrei* our pattern, and not the British pattern.
As we shall have adult suffrage, the voice of
even the youngest of us will count. That is
why I have said that the ideally non-violent
State will be an ordered anarchy. That State
will be the best governed which is governed
the least. The pity is that no one trusts me
with the reins of government I Otherwise I would
show how to govern non-violently. If I maintain
a .police force, it will be a body of reformers. ”
“But,” someone retorted, “you had the power
in the , Congress ? ”
“ That was a paper-boat, ” said Gandhiji. “And
then you must not forget that I never spared
the . Congress ministries. Munshi and Pantji came
in for a lot of strictures from me. As I have
said- in another connection even the dirty water
from the gutter, when it mixes with the water
of the Ganges, becomes as pure as the Ganges
water; even so I had expected even the
goondas would work under Congress discipline.
But evidently our ministers had not attained
the purifying potency of the fabled Ganges.”
“ But,” said Shri Kher, intervening at this
stage, “the Congress ministers had no non-
violent power with them. Even if 500 goondas
had run amok and had been allowed to go
unchecked, they would have dealt untold havoc.
I do not know how even you would have dealt
with them.”
“Surely, surely,” said Gandhiji, “I had
rehearsed such situations. The ministers could
on such occasions have gone out and allowed
themselves to be done to death by the goondas.
But let us face the fact that we had not the
requisite ahimsa. We went in with our half-
baked ahimsa, I do not mind it, inasmuch as
we. gave up power the moment we felt we
should give it up. I am sure that, if we had
adhered to strictest non-violence during these
two or three years, the Congress would have
made a tremendous advance in the direction of
ahimsa and also independence.”
f “ But, ” said Balasaheb, “ four or five ■ years
ago when there was a riot, and I appealed to
the,, lea.ders ' to go and throw themselves into
the . conflagration, no one was ready. ”
. “ So you are supporting my- argument. You
agree- that our loyalty to ahimsa was lip-loyalty
jind not- heart-loyalty. And if even the half-
h?.ke4 ^ipisa^ carried us a long way, does it not
that thorough aMm?a woul^^ have carried
us very far indeed, even if it had not already .
brought us to the goal? ”
Non-violent Army
“ But we cannot visualise how you will stand
non-violently against a foreign invasion. ”
“ I cannot draw the whole picture to you
because we have no past experience to fall back
upon and there is no reality facing us today. We
have got the Government army manned by the
Sikhs, Pathans and Gurkhas. What I can con-
ceive is this that with my non-violent army of,
say, two thousand people I should put myself
between the two contending armies. But this,
I know, is no answer. I can only say that we
shall be able to reduce the invader’s violence
to a minimum. The general of a non-violent'
army has got to have greater presence of mind
than that of a violent army, and God would
bless him with the necessary resourcefulness to
meet situations as they arise.”
Shri Kher now raised a philosophical question.
“ The world, ” he said, “ is made up of pairs
of opposites. Where there is fear, there is
courage too. When we walk on the edge of a
precipice we walk warily, for we have fear.
Fear is not a thing to despise. Will your non-
violent army be above these pairs of opposites ?”
“ No, ” said Gandhiji, replying in the same
philosophical terminology. “No, for the simple
reason that my army will represent one of the pair
— ahimsa — out of the pair of himsa and ahimsa.
Neither I nor my army is above the pair of
opposites. The state of gunatita, in the language
of the Gita, rises above himsa and ahimsa both.
Fear has its use, but cowardice has none. I may '
not put my finger into the jaws of a snake,
but the very sight of the snake need not strike
terror into me. The trouble is that we often
die many times before death overtakes us.
“ But let me explain what my army will be
like. They need not and will not have the
resourcefulness or understanding of the general,
but . they will have a perfect sense of discipline
to carry’ out faithfully his orders. The general
should ’ have the quality which commands the
unquestioning obedience of his army, and he
will expect of them nothing more than this
obedience. The Dandi March was entirely my
conception. Pandit Motilalji first laughed at
it, he thought it to be a quixotic adventure,
and Jamnalalji suggested instead a march on the*
Viceroy’s House ! But I could not think of
anything but the salt march as I had to think
in terms of millions of our countrymen. It was
a conception that God gave me. Pandit Motilalji
argued for some time, and then he said he must
not argue as after all I was the general, and he
must have faith in me. Later when he saw me
in Jambusar, he was completely converted for he saw
with his own eyes the awakening that had come
over the masses. And it was an almost magical
awakening. Where in history shall we find,
parallels of the cool courage that our women-
displayed in such larg^ numbers ? ”
August 25 , 1940 ]
• ‘263
HAEIJAIT
“ And yet none of the thousands who took
part in the movement were above the average.
They were erring, sinning mortals. God has a
way of making use of the most fragile instru-
ments and remaining Himself untouched by
everything. Only He is gu 7 iatita”
The Real Equipment
“ And then what after all is the army that
wins ? You know Rama’s reply to Vibhishana
when the latter wondered how E.ama would be
able to conquer a foe like Ravana, when he had
no chariot, no armour, nor any shoes to his
feet ? Rama says
“The chariot, my dear Vibhishana, that wins the
victory for Rama is of a different sort from the
usual one. Manliness and courage are its wheels;
unflinching truth and character its banners and
standards; strength, discrimination, self-restraint and
benevolence its horses, with forgiveness, mercy,
equanimity their reins; prayer to God is that
conqueror’s unerring charioteer, dispassion his shield,
contentment his sword, charity his ^axe, intellect his
spear, and perfect science his stout bow. His pure
and unwavering mind stands for a quiver, his men-
tal quietude and his practice of yama and niyama
stand for the sheaf of arrows, and the homage he
pays to Brahmanas and his guru is his impenetrable
armour. There is no other equipment for victory
comparable to this; and, my dear friend, there is no
enemy who can conquer the man who takes his
stand on the chariot of dhayma. He who has a
powerful chariot like this is a warrior who can con-
rquer even that great and invincible enemy — the
world. Hearken unto me and fear not. ”
“That is the equipment,” added Gandhiji, “that
can lead us to victory. I have not retired from
the world, nor do I mean to. I am no recluse.
I am content to do what little work I can
in Sevagram and give what guidance I can to
those that come to me. What we need is faith.
And what is there to be lost in following the
right path ? The worst that can happen to us
is that we shall be crushed. Better to be
crushed than to be vanquished.
“ But if we had to equip ourselves violently,
I should be at my wit’s end. I cannot even
think out an armament plan, much less work
it. On the other hand my non-violent plan is
incredibly simpler and easier, and with God as
our Commander and Infallible Guide where is
there cause for any fear ? ”
Sevagram, 21-8-40 M. D.
(To be concluded in the next issue )
Gandhiji only made a reference to these verses
from Tulsidas’ l^amayan. I translate them here
fully for the benefit of the reader. M. D.
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ADULT EDUCATION THROUGH
HANDICRAFTS
II
A case of the effective use of s handicraft
in strengthening the dull memory o£ a girl is
described in chapter V entitled “ Spinning and
Weaving for Home and Market At a settle-
ment school in the Southern Highlands, several
children had been bringing rugs that they bad
made on their family looms. Inquiry revealed
the fact that all the family had taken a hand
in weaving except the dull girl, who could
never remember how to do anything. When
asked if she would care to come to school and
learn to weave, she was delighted, but her
expression changed immediately. “It is no use,
I can’t learn anything," she said.
“ The teacher encouraged her to try. At first she
would sit at the loom and do only what she was
told; when it came to a change, she could not
remember, and either stopped or continued in the
same way. But whatever she completed was well
done.... The girl was always on hand before weav-
ing started, always stayed at her loom as long as
she could, and little by little she learned how to
remember. Finally she could make a simple rug
entirely by herself. She was then asked to help
beginners. This opened up a new world to her, and
stimulated by the hope of showing others how to
weave, she learned to warp up a loom, and then
taught others. All this required a long time, but
whatever she learned she retained, and now she
weaves several kinds of articles... including the old
mountain coverlets which she likes best.**
The capacity of handicrafts to provide “fresh-
ness to body and mind" has given birth to
the science of “occupational therapy”, and they
have come to be an indispensable feature of
treatment in the best American hospitals, parti-
cularly in mental hospitals and among the
feeble-minded.
The educative value of handicrafts rests on a
deep scientific foundation. As Charles Eliot has
observed, “ We have lately become convinced
that accurate work with carpenter s tooZ, or lathe
or hammer and anvil, or violin, or piano^ or
pencil, or crayon, or cameVs hair brush, trains well
the same nerves and ganglia with which we do
what is ordinarily called thinking." The practice
of the handicrafts has thus two distinct func-
tions in adult education; one, as an incentive to
participation in the generally accepted forms of
learning, the other as having strong potentiality
for learning within itself. “ In the former, a
handicraft may encourage reading, writing,
inquiry, analysis, discussion, and other activities
associated with formal education.. ..but a handi-
craft in its practice also provides training in
estimating, measuring, in judging the yielding and
resisting qualities of materials, the powers and
limitations of tools, and it affords exercise in
the choosing of colour, form, texture and other
qualities both practical and aesthetic. Thus wc
may experience through a handicraft the cultural
264
HARIJAN
[ AUGUST 25, 194a
satisfaction which comes through knowing, and
also which comes through doing"'
‘‘ This double advantage/" concludes Mr. Eaton,
“cannot be too highly esteemed. In our systems
of formal schooling and in our general attitude
toward education we have overemphasized intellec-
tuality, the thinking of things, and have neglected
the educational importance of the doing of things-
In life the two cannot be entirely separated, nor should
they be; it is through their happy and constructive
blending that we grow, experience and advance. As
Ernst Harms so well expressed it, ‘ Human life
and human culture as well consists not only of
thoughts but also of feelings and impulses that
spring from aesthetic and moral sources.* And from
wide observation and experience he has concluded
that * of all the means by which we can educate
the whole personality none seems more effective
than the home crafts and other types of handicraft^ ”
Educationists and organisers of adult education
drives in this country would do well to seriously
consider and ponder these words of wisdom. We
arc accustomed to associate learning or education
with books, classes and schools. Is it not possible
that we tend to overlook the great amount of
learning that comes through doing, and especially
doing work with the hands which calls for skill,
thought and artistry ? Learning through books
and the wide use of reading and writing are,
as Mr. Eaton points out, “for the vast masses
of our people comparatively recent achievements;
making things with the hands has been in
everyday practice for ages/*
Sevagram, 17-7-40 Pyarelal
Notes
Debt Bondage of A Hill Tribe
Shri Mandeswar Sarma, who is working among
the hillmen of Madugole Agency area in the
Vizagapatam District, writes :
“ I am glad to inform you that the debt bondage
system prevailing from ages in these areas has been
abolished very recently by the Government of Madras
as the result of the efforts of the Hill Tribes’
Association and the Provincial Zaim Ryots ’ Associa-
tion. Debt bondage means that the hill muttahdars
and employers advance some money, say Rs, 50 or
60, to tribesmen and exact whole-time services of the
meek hillmen for 5, 10 and even 20 years, and at
times for generations together. By this new regula-
tion thousands of hillmen have been set free. We
are leading the hillmen in all these matters in a
non-violent groove. I am helping them to realize
non-violent values by themselves. It is our ambition
to take you to this area after three thousand persons
actively take to the spinning wheel and the takli.
For this we need your blessing. They are about
twenty thousand. At present twelve hundred hillmen
are spinning. We are also trying to wean them
from drink.”
Though the Madras Government have taken
long to redress the glaring wrong referred to
here, they deserve to be thanked on the prin-
ciple that it is better to be late than never.
It should now be easier for the workers like
Shri Sarma to carry out ameliorative measures
among the hillmen. My blessing he has. I do
not know that I can hold out any hope of
visiting his area even if he succeeds in getting
three thousand charkhas going among the hill-
men. He should have no difficulty in realising
his modest ambition.
Sevagram, 4-8-40
Improper Use
There is in Kashmir a firm called Ganju
House. I do not know any of its partners or
the nature of the business done by the Company.
Shri H. Kotak who was for some time in the
Ashram at Sabarmati and later in the A. L S. A.,,
having ceased connection with the latter, joined
the Ganju House and advertised it and his
connection with it by using without my permis-
sion a private and personal letter written to him
by me. My attention was drawn to the improper
use. I rebuked Shri Kotak for such use of my
letter. He has realised his mistake and sent the
following notice to the Lahore Tribune for
publication :
‘‘A notice was published in the name of this
House (meaning Ganju House) mentioning my
name and connected witli it a letter from Gandhiji
which had no connection with the House. I had
made use of a private and personal letter. My
action was highly improper and wholly unauthorised,
1 am in iny present work solely on my own. He
is not interested in it.’*
I am glad that Shri Kotak has repaired the
blunder.
Sevagram, 21-8-40 M. K. G.
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CONTENTS
PAGE-
Dr, Lohia Again ... ... M. K. Gandhi 257 -
Gandhi Scholarships ... Shyamlal 258
Village Reconstruction in
THE South
A. K.
259.
Equal Distribution
M. K. Gandlii 260
An Interesting Discourse-I
M. D.
261
Adult Education through
Handicrafts— II
Pyarelal
263’
Notes :
Asoka and Non-violence
M. K. G.
259'
Debt Bondage of a
Hill Tribe
M. K. G.
264-
Improper Use
M. K. G.
264-
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
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of the Brave
Editor: MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. VIII No. 29 ] POONA,- SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. 1940 [ ONE ANNA
MY IDEA OF A l^LICE FOECE
( By M. JSL Gandhi )
A friend writes as follows:
“The English sister, whom you recently quoted,
rightly says that efforts should always be made to
stem external aggression by non-violent means, and
that present circumstances offer a peculiarly suitable
opportunity for demonstrating that it is possible to
secure better results through non-violence than through
armed force. But ahimsa as a weapon to counter
internal disorders presents difficulties. In our country
there can be three types of internal disturbances, viz.
communal, industrial, and dacoities. The root causes
of these are .mutual distrust, social injustice, and
grinding poverty due to economic exploitation and
unemployment. So long as these causes exist, the
threefold disturbances will take place in spite of
armed forces. Your constructive programme is the
only means of removing these root causes. But it
will take time. What is to be done in the mean*
time ? Can non-violence solve the difficulties ?
Can we envisage an order of society in which we
will not have to resort to himsa in any. form what-
soever ? Suppose for argument’s sake that there
exists a society where the majority does not possess
goods that would excite envy and where everyone
has the wherewithal to live contentedly. Even then
it does not seem possible that there will be no dis-
putes over proprietorship of land, lending and borrowing
of money, and other business dealings. For these,
therefore, we must provide the means of justice and
see that the decisions of the courts or arbitration
boards are carried out. For this it will be essential
to have a police force. You have yielded this point.
But I should like to know what restrictions you
would place on the police force. If there were a
non-violent Government in power today, would it use
the police force for quelling internal disorders? And
are you willing to maintain it for all time at only
temporarily ? My mind refuses to go so far as to
envisage a time when a police force will be a
superfluity. There seems to me to be no escape
from placing this limitation, as it were, on ahimsa.”
The questions asked in this letter are of the
utmost importance and deserve notice. If true
ahimsa had come into being within us, and if
our so-called satyagraha movements had been
truly non-violent, these questions would not have
arisen because they would have been solved.
For one who has never seen the arctiq, regions
an imaginary description of them, however
elaborate, can convey but an inadequate idea of
the reality. Even so is it with ahimsa. If all
Congressmen had been true to their creed, we
would not be vacilladng between violence and
non-violence as we are today. The fruits of
ahimsa would be in evidence everywhere. There
would be communal harmony, the demon of
untouchability would have been cast out, and,
generally speaking, we should have evolved an
ordered society. But the reverse is the case just
now. There is even definite hostility to the
Congress in certain quarters. The word of
Congressmen is not always relied on. The Muslim
League and most of the Princes have no faith
in the Congress and are in fact inimical to it.
If Congressmen had true ahimsa in them, there
would be none of this distrust. In fact the
Congress would be the beloved of all.
Therefore I can only place an imaginary
picture before the votaries of ahimsa.
So long as we are not saturated with pure
ahimsa we cannot possibly win Swaraj through
non-violence. We can come into power only
when wc are in a majority or, in other words,
when the large majority of people are willing
to abide by the law of ahimsa. When this
happy state prevails the spirit of violence will
have all but vanished and internal disorder will
have come under control.
Nevertheless I have conceded that even in a
non-violent State a police force may be neces-
ary. This, I admit, is a sign of my imperfect
ahimsa. I have not the courage to declare that
we can carry on without a police force as I
have in respect of an army. Of course I can
and do envisage a state where the police will
not be necessary; but ,whether we shall succeed
in realising it, the future alone will show.
The police of my conception will, however,
be of a wholly different pattern from the
present-day force. Its ranks will be composed of
believers in non-violence. They will be servants,
not. masters, of the people. The people will
instinctivey render them every help, and through
mutual co-operation they will easily deal with
the ever-decreasing disturbances. The police force
will have some kind of arms, but they will be
rarely used, if at all. In fact the policemen will
be reformers. Their police work will be con-
fined primarily to robbers and dacoits. Quarrels
between labour ’ and capital and strikes will be
few and far between in a non-violent State*
because the influence of the non-violent majority
will be so great as to command the respect of
the principal elements in society. Similarly there
will he no room for communal disturbances.
■266
HAEIJAIT
[ Septembee 1, 1940
Then we must remember that when such a
Congress Government comes into power the
large majority of men and women of 21 years
and over will have been enfranchised. The rigid
and cramped constitution of today has of course
no place in this picture.
Sevagram, 20-8-40
( Translated from Gujarati )
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE
II
A Sister’s Questions
Now came questions of practical difficulty.
Q. “ May a non-violent man possess wealth,
and if he may, how can he keep it non-
violently ? ”
A. “He may not own any wealth, though
he may possess millions. Let him hold it in
trust. If he lives among dacoits and thieves, he
may possess very little, indeed little beyond a
loin-cloth. And if he does this, he will convert
them. . ,
“But' youi-.- must not generalise.- In a non-
violent State, there will be very few dacoits.
For the individual the golden rule is that he
will oM'n! nothing, .If I decided to settle and
work among the so-called criminal tribes, I
should go to, them without any belongings and
depend on them for my food and shelter. The
moment they feel that I am in their midst in
order to serve them, they will be, my friends.
In that attitude is true ahimsa. But I have
discussed this question at length in a recent
•article in Harijan."
Q. “ How is one to protect the honour of
women ? ”
A. “I am afraid you do not read Harijan
regularly. I discussed this question years ago,
and have discussed it often since. The question
may be discussed under two heads: ( 1 ) how
is a woman to protect her own honour? and
•(2) how are her male relatives to protect it?
“As regards the first question, where there
is a non-violent atmosphere, where there is the
constant teaching of ahimsa, woman will not
regard herself as dependent, weak or helpless.
She is not really helpless when she is really
pure. Her purity makes her conscious of her
strength. I have always held that it is physi-
cally impossible to violate a woman against her
will. The outrage takes place only when she
gives way to fear or does not realise her moral
strength. If she cannot meet the assailant’s
physical might, her purity will give her the
strength to die before he succeeds in violating
her. Take the case of Sita. Physically she was
a weakling before Ravana, but her purity was
more than a match even for his giant might.
He tried to win her with all kinds of allure-
ments but could not carnally touch her without
her consent. On the other hand, if a woman
depends on her own physical strength or upon
a weapon she possesses, she is sure to be discom-
fited whenever her strength is exhausted.
“The second question is easily answered. The
brother or father or friend will stand between
his protege and her assailant. He will then
either dissuade the assailant from his wicked
purpose or allow himself to be killed by him
in preventing him. In so laying down his life
he will not only have done his duty, but given
a new accession of strength to his protege who
will now know how to protect her honour."
“ But,” said one of the sisters from Poo na
“ there lies the rub. How is a woman to lay
down her life? Is it possible for her to do so?”
“ Oh ! ” said Gandhiji, “ any day more possible
for her than for man. I know that women are
capable of throwing away their lives for a much
lesser purpose. Only a few days ago a young
girl of twenty burnt herself to death as she
felt she was being persecuted for refusing to
go in for ordinary studies. And she perished
with such cool courage and determination. She
ignited her sari with an ordinary oil-light and
did not so much as raise a cry, so that the
people in the neighbouring room were unaware
of the happening until all was over. I do not
give these details to commend her example, but
to show how easily woman can throw away
her life. I at any rate am incapable of this
courage. But I agree that it is not the external
light but the inner light that is needed.”
The same sister wondered how one was to
avoid anger and violence altogether in dealing
with children. “ You know our old adage, ”
said Gandhiji laughing heartily, “play with him
till he is five, hammer him for ten years, treat
him as your friend when he is sixteen. ” “ But,”
he added, “don’t you worry. If you have to
be angry with your child on occasions, I shall
call that anger non-violent anger. I am speaking
of wise mothers, not the ignorant ones who do
not deserve to be mothers. ”
Central Teaching of the Gita
The discussion again took a serious turn with
a challenging question on the philosophy of the
Gita: “Is the central teaching of the Gita
selfless action or non-violence?”
“I have no doubt that it is awasafeiz — self-
less action. Indeed I have called my little trans-
lation of the Gita Anasdktiyoga. And aiiUsakti
transcends ahimsa. He who would be anasabta
(selfless) has necessarily to practise non-violence
in order to attain the state of selflessness.
Ahimsa is, therefore, a necessary preliminary, it'
is included in anasaktU it does not go beyond it.”
“ Then does the Gita teach himsa and ahimsa
both ?”
I do not read that meaning in the Gita.
It is quite likely that the author did not write
it to inculcate ahimsa, but as a commentator
draws innumerable interpretations from a poetic
text, even so I interpret the Gita to mean that,
if its central theme is anasakti, it also teaches
ahimsa. Whilst, we are in the flesh and tread
the solid earth, we have to practise ahimsa. !<*
the life beyond there is no himsa or ahimsa.”
HARIJAN
267
Septembee 1, 1940 ]
“ But,” said Balasaheb Kher, Lord Krishna
actually counters the doctrine of ahimsa. For
Arjuna utters this pacifist resolve:
Better I deem it, if my kinsmen strike,
To face them weaponless, and bare my breast
To shaft and spear, than answer blow with blow’.
And Lord Krishna teaches him to answer blow
with blow.”
What to Do ?
“ There I join issue with you,” said Gandhiji.
Those words of Arjuna were words of preten-
tious wisdom. ‘ Until yesterday,’ says Krishna
to him, ‘ you fought your kinsmen with deadly
weapons without the slightest compunction. Even
today you would strike if the enemy was a
a stranger and not your own kith and kin!’
The question before him was not of non-violence,
but whether he should slay his nearest and
dearest.”
Again the questioners came down to solid
earth, and began to put questions about the
Congress and the attitude of those who believed
in complete non-violence. Gandhiji explained that
' they should refrain till he gave the word. He
wanted still to plead with the leaders who had
passed the Poona resolution. He expected to
.show them that the* Congress would lose all
its prestige if they adhered to the new policy.
But the question had to be dealt with patiently.
On the other hand it did not matter even if
the Congress resolution received no response.
The resolution was as good as enforced, when
it was deliberately passed, and their duty did
not alter with the refusal of the Government
to respond. “Besides,” he added, “there is an
inherent flaw in the Poona resolution. It should
be obvious to the meanest understanding that,
if you think that you cannot do without arms
in meeting foreign aggression, they would
a fortiori be needed in dealing with daily distur-
bances — internecine feuds, dacoities and riots.
For organised unarmed resistance against an
organised invasion is any day easier than
deliberate ahimsa in face of a dacoit who breaks
into your house at night. That calls for ahimsa
of the highest type.”
Miscellaneous Questions
Now came a few miscellaneous questions. “ Can
one work in two capacities — one’s own indivi-
dual capacity and one’s representative capacity ?”
“ Yes, but theiy should not be in conflict with
.'eadh other. And how can a leader follow the
people? He has to lead them, and they have
to follow him. A newspaper may both lead
and follow the public, but not a leader of the
people.”
“Then, how is it that the Sardar is reported
to have said in Ahmedabad that individually he
would follow Mahatmaji but otherwise he would
act as a representative of his province?” *
“ I do pot believe that he said this. Can one
think of the Sardar taking up the sword as a
representative of Gujarat, and abandoning it in
his individual capacity?”
“ You have told us how to behave in case of
riots. May we know how you acted in 1921
when there was rioting on the day the Prince
of Wales arrived in Bombay?”
“There were two occasions. The first was the
Rowlatt Act Satyagraha. Then as I was discharged
near Marine Lines I heard that rioting was
going on near Pydhunie. I got into a car, drove
straight to the scene, and was able to restrain
the crowd. The second was at the time of the
Prince of Wales’ visit when the people were
burning motors, tram cars, etc. I went to the
scene and pacified them. But riots broke out
at Byculla and spread in other parts. The anger
was against Congressmen. I did not go myself,
but I sent Congressmen to face the angry crowds
and pacify them. That was a most delicate
situation. I purposely did not go myself, because
I thought an injury to me by the angered
crowd would be attended with much bloodshed
instead of resulting in pacification.
“That, however, is not to say that I am a
brave man. I am by nature timid, but God has-
always come to my rescue and blessed me with
the courage needed for the occasion. The one
occasion on which my courage was put to the
■severest test was on 13th January 1897 when,
acting against Mr. Escombe’s advice not to
disembark until dusk, I went ashore and faced
the howling crowd determined on lynching me.
I was surrounded by thousands of them, I was-
pelted with stones and kicked, but my courage
did not fail me." I really cannot say how the
courage came to- me. But it did. God is great.”"
Sevagram, 26-8-40 M. D.
For details see Aiitohiography^ part III chaps. 1 — 3-
ANDREWS MEMORIAL FUND
( Statement of donations received up to 20th August
1940 towards the Deenabandhu C, F. Andrews
Memorial Fund) Rs.
Shri Ram Kishore, Lucknow 10
Shri A. V. Thakkar, Delhi 50
Shri Prakash Nath, Lahore 50
Shri Ganga Prasad, Ramgarh 50
Dr. Kanwar Shamshere Singh, Simla 500
Smt. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Simla 500
Mrs. Vimala Setalvad, Bombay 100
Seth G. D. Birla, Calcutta 500
Mrs. Urmila Joshi, New Delhi 2
Shri Gurdial Mallick, Santiniketan 101
Shri Shiva Prasad Gupta, Benares 51
Shri Amir Chand Khanna, Delhi 50
Shri H. Sakharam Rau, Poona 11
Shri A. Srinivasa Pai, Kasaragod 5
The Dowager Maharanee of Vizianagaram 200
Shri Damodardas V. Patwari, Palanpur 100
Mr. & Mrs. Shantikumar N. Morarjee 100
Seth Ambalal Sarabhai, Ahmedabad 100
Shri Rameshwardas, Dhulia 25
Shri Tulsi Mooranjun 5
Shri Kalidas Topiwala 10
Rs. 2,520
368
JdAKiJAJN
[ OJiiFTEMtJjUK 1, 1940
-f-jcLtijan
Sep. 1
1940
NON-VIOLENCE OF THE BRAVE
( By M. K> Gandhi )
A correspondent writes:
“You say non-violence is for the brave, not for
cowards. But, in my opinion, in India the brave are
conspicuous by their absence. Even if we claim to be
brave, how is the world to believe us when it knows
that India has no arms and is therefore incapable
of defending herself? What then should we do to
cultivate non-violence of the brave?”
The correspondent is wrong in thinking that
in India the brave are conspicuous by their
absence. It is a matter for shame that because
foreigners once labelled us as cowards we should
accept the label. Man often becomes what he
believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to
myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is
possible that I may end by really becoming
incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I
have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely
acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not
have it at the beginning. Again it is wrong
to say that the world today believes us to be
cowards. It has ceased to think so since the
satyagraha campaign. The Congress prestige has
risen very high in the West diuring the past
twenty years. The world is watching with
astonished interest the fact that although we
have no arms we are hoping to win Swaraj,
and have indeed come very near it. Moreover,
it sees in our non-violent movement rays of
hope for peace in the world and its salvation
from the hell of carnage. The bulk of mankind
has come to believe that, if ever the spirit of
revenge is to vanish and bloody wars are to
cease, the happy event can happen only through
the policy of non-violence adopted by the
Congress. The correspondent’s fear and suspicion
arc, therefore, unfounded.
It will now be seen that the fact that India
is unarmed is no obstacle in the path of ahimsa.
The forcible disarmament of India by the British
Government was indeed a grave wrong and a
cruel injustice. But we can turn even injustice
to our advantage if God be with us, or if
you prefer, we have the skill to do so. And
such a thing has happened in India.
Arms are surely unnecessary for a training in
ahimsa. In fact the arms, if any, have to be
thrown away, as the Khansaheb did in the
Frontier Province. Those who hold that it is
essential to learn violence before we can learn
non-violence, would hold that only sinners can*
be saints.
Just as one must learn the art of killing in
the training for violence, so one must learn the
art of dying in the training for non-violence.
Violence does not mean emancipation from fear,
but discovering the means of combating the
cause of fear. Non-violence, on the other hand,
has no cause for fear. The votary of non-
violence has to cultivate the capacity for sacrifice
of the highest type in order to be free from
fear. He recks not if he should lose his land,
his wealth, his life. He who has not overcome
all fear cannot practise ahimsa to perfection. The
votary of ahimsa has only one fear, that is of
God. He who seeks refuge in God ought to
have a glimpse of the Atman that transcends the
body; and the moment one has a glimpse of the
Imperishable Atman one sheds the love of the
perishable body. Training in non-violence is thus
diametrically opposed to training in violence.
Violence is needed for the protection of things
external, non-violence is needed for the protec-
tion of the Atman, for the protection of one’s
honour.
This non-violence cannot be learnt by staying
at home. It needs enterprise. In order to test
ourselves we should learn to dare danger and
death, mortify the flesh and acquire the capacity
to endure all manner of hardships. He who
trembles or takes to his heels the -moment he
sees two people fighting is not non-violent, but
a coward. A non-violent person will lay down
his life in preventing such quarrels. The bravery
of the non-violent is vastly superior to that of
the violent. The badge of the violent is his
weapon — spear, or sword, or rifle. God is the
shield of the non-violent.
This is not a course of training for one in-
tending to learn non-violence. But it is easy to
evolve one from the principles I have laid down.
It will be evident from the foregoing that
there is no comparison between the two types
of bravery. The one is limited, the other is
limitless. There is no such thing as out-daring
or out-fighting non-violence. Non-violence is
invincible. There need be no doubt that this
non-violence can be achieved. The history of
the past twenty years should be enough to
reassure us.
Sevagram, 27-8-40
( Translated from Gujarati )
QUESTION BOX
(By M. K. Gandhi)
A. 1. S. A. Employees
Q. The Secretary of the Bhiwani Congress
committee asks : Is there a ban on A. I. S. A.
employees as far as signing the satyagraha pledge
is concerned? They fulfil all the conditions of
the pledge, but they may not offer themselves
for jail without the permission of the A. I. S. A.,
and therefore they cannot sign the form. Is it
then permissible for them to retain their
membership of Congress executive committees,
or should they resign from them ?
A. Your interpretation of the rule of the
A. I. S. A. is correct. No one can work ih
two spheres at the same time. The work of
the A. I. S. A. too is Congress work. None
SEPTEMBER 1, iy4U J
HAKiJAJN
■of its employees can be allowed to court
imprisonment. His absence must harm khadi.
Therefore, granted that the rule is necessary, it
is plain that no A. 1. S. A. employee may remain
,a member of a Congress committee. The entire
.committee may be arrested, or if the com-
mittee so desires, it can order any of its
members to court imprisonment.
( Translated from Hindustani )
Uncertified Khadi
Q. The Secretary also asks: Members of Con-
gress local executive committees sometimes sell
uncertified khadi. They give the same wages to
spinners and weavers as the A. I. S. A. Only
their khadi is not certified. According to Con-
gress rules are they entitled to remain on
Congress committees or should they resign from
them?
A. In my opinion they are not entitled to
membership of Congress committees. The official
.answer must be officially secured. If it is correct
that they give the same wages to spinners and
weavers, why do they not get the necessary
certificate from the A. I. S. A.?
( Translated from Hindustani )
How to Convert Atheists
Q. How can one convert atheists to belief
in God and religion?
A. There is only one way. The true servant
• of God can convert the atheist by means of his
• own purity and good conduct. It can never be
done by argument. Innumerable books have been
written to prove the existence of God, and if
.argument could have prevailed, there would not
be a single atheist in the world today. But the
opposite is the case. In spite of all the literature
on the subject, atheism is on the increase. Often,
however, the man who calls himself an atheist
is not one in reality; and the converse also is
•equally true. Atheists sometimes say, “If you
,are believers, then we are unbelievers.” And they
have a right to say so, for self-styled believers
are often not so in reality. Many worship God
because it is the fashion to do so or in order
to deceive the world. How can such persons
have any influence on atheists? Therefore let
the believer realise and have the faith that, if
he is true to God, his neighbours will instinct-
ively not be atheists. Do not let him be
troubled about the whole world. Let us
remember that atheists exist by the sufferance
■ of God. How truly has it been said that those
who worship God in name only are not believers
.but those who do His will !
( Translated from Hindustani )
Living Wage
Q. You once wrote in Harijan to the effect
that villagers are at liberty to buy yarn spun
.in their own villages without reference to the
living wage, and that the A. 1. S. A. should
let them go their way in this matter. Are
those who wear khadi woven from such yarn
eligible as Congress delegates ? And what is the
village worker to do in this regard ? He natur-
ally does propaganda in favour of a living
wage. There are always a certain number of
villagers who buy A. I. S. A. khadi, but at the
same time there are many who cannot afford to
do so. And even if they pay less than the
living wage, there is no doubt that the spinners
get some relief and khadi finds a certain place
in village life too. Is the village worker there
to encourage such khadi ?
A. If we were always careful enough not to
read into a writer’s sentences a meaning which
defeats his very purpose, such questions v^ould
rarely arise. Where no wages are paid and the
yarn is self-spun, no ban of any kind can be
applied. It is of course assumed that the
A. I. S. A. rule is not broken on a false plea of
self-sufficiency. The same applies to the village
worker.
But there is one important issue raised in
your questions. The A. 1. S. A. worker in a
particular village cannot pay a living wage if
he is to use the village khadi. Therefore he
will buy yarn at a lesser rate and give some
work to the spinners who would otherwise get
nothing. But he may not become a member of
the Congress. He will serve the Congress from
without. Sometimes such persons serve the Con-
gress far better, and they are moreover saved
from the ambitions that membership often
carries with it. It is clear that such khadi
cannot be sold outside the village. It should
all be absorbed locally. The moment uncertified
khadi is put into the market the A. 1. S. A,
law is broken and real khadi receives a setback.
The A. I. S. A. is labouring under great stress
in trying to raise the spinners’ wages. Never
in the world have I heard of wages being
increased from one or two pice to 8 or 12
pice per day without the wage-earners having
asked for a rise in pay. The A. I. S. A. has
done monumental work in this matter.
(Translated from Hindustani')
Will It Fail ?
Q. You say that the Congress is not cent
per cent non-violent today. If that is so, will
not -a satyagraha movement launched by it be
unsuccessful ?
A. It is not possible for a large popular
organisation like the Congress to be wholly non-
violent, for the simple reason that all its members
cannot have attained a standard level of non-
violence. But it is perfectly possible for some
of its members, who truly understand the impli-
cations of pure ahimsa and observe its law in
their lives, to lead a successful satyagraha move-
ment. This truth has even been demonstrated
so far by the Congress.
Sevagram, 27-8-40 ( Translated from Gujarati).
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0
Postage 8 As, Available at Harijan office-Poona 4.
Empire or Democracy ? by L. Barnes.
Price Rs. 5-10 + Postage 4 Annas.
4 V
I kjnir iiLiVJ jDJiiii 1,
ANDREWS MEMORIAL
( By M. K, Gandhi )
A friend, who is himself trying to collect
for the Andrews Memorial, has written a letter
from which I take the following relevant
paragraphs :
‘‘As I read it there are four objects of the appeal
(you will kindly correct me, if I am wrong):
(i) Ensuring the permanence of the present establi-
shed work by an endowment to enable Santiniketan
to fulfil Andrews’ high hopes for it, unhampered
by the constant financial anxiety whth which it is
now burdened.
This is obviously the first need, for it would be
doubtful wisdom to add new developments to an
institution which itself is insecure. At the same time
the amount required for this purpose is nowhere
specified.
If there is a sufficiently generous response to the
appeal, providing more than is required for this first
need, then it will be possible to go on to the other
three parts of the scheme, viz.
( ii ) A small but properly equipped hospital ;
{ iii ) The provision of ‘ Deenabandhu wells ’ in the
district ;
( iv ) The provision of the Hall of Christian culture.
Now, if I am right in this, it must surely occur
to the reader of the appeal that, if, as seems likely,
the institution requires a considerable sum for its
endowment fund, the chances that any contributions
made now will actually be available for either of the
second, third or fourth part of the scheme are some-
what remote. It is not stated whether contributors
are allowed to earmark tlieir gifts for any of the
special objects in the scheme; and obviously, if a
large proportion of contributors did so, the primary
object of the appeal — the placing of Santiniketan
on a sound basis financially — may be defeated.
My second difficulty was about the statement of
the aims, and I had in view particularly those of
the proposed hall of Christian culture, in which I am
naturally interested.
That is first described as providing for India’s
thought contact with the Western world, on the
analogy of the ‘Cheena Bhavan’ and China. This
suggests a doubtful identification of ‘Christian culture’
and ‘Western culture.’
The statement then goes on to speak of (a) the
application of the teaching and character of Christ to
international problems, and ( b ) the task of interpret-
ing in Eastern modes of thought the spirit and
mind of Christ.
What we have, therefore, seems to be three rather
different aims, all very important and relevant.
Perhaps it may be necessary to leave it in this
rather wide form; and yet I cannot help thinking
that a more careful wording might make clear the
relation of the other two aspects of the aim to that
which is described as the ‘central purpose’.
Thirdly, I raised the question of trustees and a
sound basis for confidence in the future running of
the scheme. If I understand your letter rightly, the
trustees of this special fund are to be the trustees
'of Santiniketan and Sriniketan, mentioned at the end
of the appeal. The appeal itself does not seem tc
make this clear.
Does this imply that the disposal and allocation of
the special fund raised is directly in the hands of
these trustees of Santiniketan, so that, in effect, the
fund becomes an additional part of the corpus of
the Trust ?
It seemed to me that for a scheme of the impor-
tance and magnitude of that contemplated in the
appeal there would be a place for some special
committee or body of trustees related a little more
definitely both to the special objects and to the
wider interests to which the appeal will extend.”
The enquiry is pertinent and deserves a proper
answer. As I happen to be one of the signa-
tories to the appeal for funds, what I write may
be taken as authoritative. The present trustees
have made a rough calculation of the expenses
in connection with the three definite additions
to Santiniketan. After providing for them, a
surplus is expected to be available which will
go into the general funds. But naturally these
three items will have precedence. Nevertheless
it is open to donors to earmark their funds
for any of the three additions, and the money
will be so used. Therefore there need be no
apprehension about the additions, whether dona-
tions are earmarked or not. If I may let out
a secret, I may say that the general appeal was
my idea. Gurudev, who first thought of the
memorial being identified with Santiniketan, had
in mind only two things — the hospital and - the
hall, the latter being the suggestion of a Christian
friend. Deenabandhu wells were to be built out
of Santiniketan funds. Taking the cue from
Gurudev, I felt there should be no hesitation
whatsoever in identifying the whole of Santi-
niketan with Andrews’ memory. The Poet is a
host in himself. He has an established inter-
national fame which will grow with time.
Nevertheless Andrews was its best advertiser.
Gurudev has no advertising ability. He simply
works, wishes, and then leaves his wishes
to fate. Not so the practical Englishman.
He felt attracted to the Poet, and found his
peace and permanent abode in Santiniketan.
England was his birth-place; he never tore
himself away from her. But his soul found its
full expression and home in Santiniketan, and
I know, because I was his co-worker, that he
went literally from door to door in order to
get funds for Santiniketan. And he would often
say to me ; ‘ Never mind Santiniketan, but you
must get so much money for me. You know
what Santiniketan means to me and what the
Poet means to the world.’ And I succumbed tc-
his advance whenever he made it, even though
I could ill afford the time. His love for Santi-
niketan was greater — I say this without any
offence to anyone living in Santiniketan — than
theirs. It was certainly as great as the Poet’s,
and Santiniketan, as it is at present, is due
as much to Andrews as to the Poet. Probably
Andrews was the more persistent of the two.
September 1, 1940 ] HARIJAN 271
With this knowledge at the back of my
mind I had no hesitation in suggesting that the
appeal should be general. Hence I would say
to would-be donors that they would miss the
central fact of the memorial if they detached the
three additions from Santiniketan. For the three
together would be a poor memorial to Deena-
bandhu if Santiniketan were no more. And let
me say at once that Santiniketan will never
owe its permanence to the five lakhs that may
be collected. It will be permanent because
the Poet has breathed life into it and the
spirit of Andrews hovers over it. If it keeps
up the character imparted to it by its founders,
including Andrews, it will never die.
The second difficulty is easily answered. The
interpretation of Christ in the Hall of Christian
culture will bear the imprint of the Poet’s all-
embracing soul, and therefore Christian culture,
as it will flourish in Santiniketan, will never
be exclusive. Much will depend upon the Christ-
ians who might be attracted to Santiniketan. A
more careful wording in defining the scope of
the Hall of Christian culture was not possible,
was not intended. I suggest to my correspondent
that such matters are better left in a liquid
state. Who shall say what the future has in
store for any of the big things of the world?
The third difficulty is also easily disposed of.
It had occurred even to me, but I felt that it
would not be right to create a new trust for
the memorial funds. The names of the present
trustees are given in the appeal. If they are good
enough to be made responsible for the manage-
ment of the vast international Estate, called
Santiniketan and Sriniketan, they might well be
entrusted with the additional responsibility of
dealing with the funds that may be collected
for the memorial.
Finally I may mention that the response hither-
to made through the memorial appeal has been
very poor. I know that the organisation of the
fund rests principally upon my shoulders. I have
done nothing in the hope that Deenabandhu’s
solid work for submerged humanity would need
no organised effort, and that it would evoke
spontaneous response. I have not yet lost that
hope. I publish the meagre list of donations
hitherto received. The reader will notice, as I
have noticed, that as yet there is no collection
from the student world nor any coppers from
the labour world.
Sevagram, 27-8-40
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Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Dasgupfa
1384 pages. 18 chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages.
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NON-VIOLENT CRAFTS
The joint meeting of the A. 1. S. A. and the
Gandhi Seva Sangh that was held last June discussed
several questions relating to a wider understand-
ing of the economics of khadi. At one sitting
Gandhiji spoke at length about the non-violent
aspect of the development of handicrafts. “As,”
he said, “ a non-violent man’s actions will all
be coloured by non-violence, his occupational
activity will necessarily be non-violent. Strictly
speaking, no activity and no industry is possible
without a certain amount of violence, no matter
how little. Even the very process of living is
impossible without a certain amount of vio-
lence. What we have to do is to minimise it
to the greatest extent possible. Indeed the very
word non-violence, a negative word, means that
it is an effort to abandon the violence that is
inevitable in life. Therefore whoever believes
in ahimsa will engage himself in occupations
that involve the least possible violence. Thus,
for instance, one cannot conceive of a man be-
lieving in non-violence carrying on the occupa-
tion of a butcher. Not that a meat-eater cannot
be non-violent — there are many among meat-
eaters who are better observers of non-violence
than those who abstain from meat, e. g. Deena-
bandhu Andrews — but even a meat-eater
believing in non-violence will not go in for
shikar, and he will not engage in war or war
preparations. Thus there are many activities
and occupations which necessarily involve
violence and must be eschewed by a non-
violent man. But there is agriculture without
which life is impossible, and which does involve
a certain amount of violence. The determining
factor therefore is — is the occupation founded on
violence ? But since all activity involves some
measure of violence, all we have to do is to
minimise the violence involved in it. This is
not possible without a heart-belief in non-
violence. Suppose there is a man who does
no actual violence, who labours for his bread,
but who is always consumed with envy at
other people’s wealth or prosperity. He is not
non-violent. A non-violent occupation is thus that
occupation which is fundamentally free from,
violence and which involves no exploitation or
envy of others.
“ Now I have no historical proof, but I believe
that there was a time in India when village
economics were organised on the basis of such
non-violent occupations, not on the basis of the
rights of man but on the duties of man. Those
who engaged themselves in such occupations did
earn their living, but their labour contributed
to the good of the community, A carpenter,
for instance, ministered to the needs of the
village farmer. He got no cash payment but was
paid in kind by the villagers. There could be
injustice even in this system, but it would be
reduced to a minimum. I speak from personal
knowledge of the life in Kathiawad of over
sixty years ago. There was more lustre in.
272
HARIJAN
[ September i, 1940
people’s eyes, and more life in their limbs, than
you find today. It was a life founded on
unconscious ahimsa.
“ Body labour w-as at the core of these occu-
pations and industries, and there was no large
scale machinery. For when a man is content to
own only so much land as he can till with his
own labour, he cannot exploit others. Handicrafts
exclude exploitation and slavery. Large scale
machinery concentrates wealth in the hands of
one man who lords it over the rest who slave
for him. For he may be trying to create ideal
conditions for his workmen, but it is none the
less exploitation which is a form of violence.
‘^‘When I say that there was a time when
society was based not on exploitation but on
justice, I mean to suggest that truth and ahimsa
were not virtues confined to individuals but
were practised by communities. To me virtue
ceases to have any value if it is cloistered
or possible only for individuals.”
Sevagram, 26-8-40 M. D.
Notes
Sindh
The position of Congressmen in Sindh is by
no means enviable. They have a most difficult
time before them. Their non-violence, if they
have it in them, has not benefited those who
live in fear of their lives. It is true that no
one else has helped them. I warned them at
the very outset that they must learn the art
of helping themselves as others do, or by non-
violence as Congressmen are supposed or expect-
ed to do. In some places they are organising
national guards. Those who do, look up to
Congressmen for help and guidance. For the
latter have been their helpers and guides hither-
to. Some Congressmen feel that without any
intention themselves of taking up arms they
can put courage into the people, if they train
them in the art of self-defence whether with or
without arms. The question has attained impor-
tance and demands immediate answer in view
of the unequivocal resolution of the A. I. C. C,
recently held at Poona. I am quite clear that
no Congressman, so long as he is even a four
anna member of the Congress, can take part
in organising or aiding self-defence groups with-
out committing a breach of the Poona resolu-
tion. But I am equally clear that it is the duty
of those Congressmen who feel the need for
helping self-defence groups and have the capa-
city for doing so, to, go to the rescue of the
terror-stricken men. This they can do by
resigning their membership of the Congress. By
doing so they will enhance the prestige of the
Congress and their own usefulness. The fact
that they feel the call to help is the decisive
factor in determining t.h^ir course of action.
Peaceful Methods ?
A correspondent sends a leaflet published by-
the Madras Provincial War Committee and'
printed at the Government Press, which enu-
merates the seven “great ideals” for which
“war is being waged” today by England. The
second of the ideals runs thus :
“The ideals for which England is fighting are the-
ideals of India. Our philosophy of life, our traditions
of domestic and international policy have had:
Peace for its ideal — as exemplified in the teaching
of the Lord Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.
Peaceful methods and tolerance — as the means of
political progress and international relations, as
symbolised by the policy of India’s ideal king Asoka.
In fighting with England we shall be fighting for
what we hold most precious in our o^vn national
heritage.”
My correspondent says these leaflets are issued
in the provincial languages and are widely dis-
tributed among the villagers. I suggest to the
Madras War Committee that they remove clause
2 altogether as being untrue. For my ideal as put
before the British people is well known. If Lord
Buddha was on earth in the body at this-
moment, such a war would be impossible. It
is a travesty of truth to call English methods,
methods of peace. Asoka’s is perhaps the only
instance of a great king having voluntarily aban-
doned war and adopted peaceful methods.
It is no reflection on the British people that
they do not accept my advice or follow Asoka’s^
way. These things cannot be done mechanically.
But it is not right to give them the credit
they do not deserve or want. Well may the
British people who read the leaflet say : ‘ Save
us from our friends. ’
Sevagram, 28-8-40 M, K. G.
NOXiCE
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published at Delhi, has now been transferred to-
Poona and will hereafter be published at Poona
every Saturday. Intending subscribers are requested
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price per copy is one anna, and in places where
we have agents readers can arrange to get copies,
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as early as possible. Manager
CONTENTS
PAGE
My Idea of a Police Force...
M. K, Gandhi 265
An Interesting Discourse-II
M. D.
266
Andrews Memorial Fund ...
267
Non-violence of the Brave
M. K. Gandhi
268
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi
268
Andrews Memorial
M, K. Gandhi
270.
Non-violent Crafts
Notes :
M. D.
271
Sindh
M. K. G.
272,
Peaceful Methods ?
M. K. G.
272.
Printed and Published by Vithal-Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4,
Subscription Ridw — INLAHD ; One year, Es. 4, Six months, Es. 2-8. FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5^8 or, 8 sh. or 2 dollars.
Edito* i MAHADEV DESAl
VoL. VIII No. 30 ] POONA — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
AHIMSA IN DAILY LIFE
A Merchant’s Story
If we once make up our minds to examine
ourselves at every step, we shall find that we
frequently infringe the law of ahimsa, and that
we should be ever so much happier if we
were vigilant. The need for the soft answer that
tumeth away wrath arises every moment, but
we scarcely realise it. Just a little exercise of
silence, and you well may quench the wrath
that a retort would surely have provoked. I
have an annoying letter. I feel like replying to
it sharply, but I sit silent over it for a couple
of days and don’t feel like replying to it at all.
That saves me from an unending series of darts
and counter-darts.
A merchant, who does not claim to be a
“ satyagrahi ” or to have been a jail-goer, but
who reads Harijanbandhu carefully, narrates a
little incident in his life which has a lesson for
every one of us. I summarise his Gujarati letter.
*‘Ohe morning,” he says, “my younger brother,
who was a stranger to my place, came from the
station in a tonga. On asking him what hire
was to be paid to the tongawalla, he said he
had agreed to pay 14 annas. I was considerably
irritated and said to the tongawalla: ‘That is
how you would deceive strangers. Eight annas
is the usual hire, and I am not going to give
you a pice more.’ But the tongawalla said :
‘That is not my concern. The fact is that he
agreed to pay fourteen annas.’ It made me more
angry. There was plenty of altercation, and at
last I offered to pay him ten annas which was
the- hire fixed by the Municipality. But the
man refused to budge. I then threatened to
take him to ' the police station. He said : ‘ I am
going to do nothing of the kind, I will have
my fourteen annas and not a pie less. Why do
you fling the schedule of rates in my face ?
Supposing I agree to accept six annas to drive
you to the station, and at the station insist on
the scheduled ten annas, would you give it to
me? Would it be proper for me to insist on
accepting nothing less than the scheduled rate?’
That was an argument to which there was no
reply. But anger had blinded me, and I was
hurt that a mere tongawalla could get the
better of me in an argument.
“My younger brother now intervened and
said the tongawalla was entitled by rights to
fourteen annas and it was no use my talking
of the schedule. But anger had taken full.
possession of me. I asked my brother to keep
quiet. But if I was ready to waste time over
a false sense of right, the tongawalla was not.
After about an hour’s hot altercation he accepted
ten annas and left cursing and swearing at me.
“ But my brother was far from happy over the
incident. When he found - that I had regained
my calm, he reverted to the subject, and asked
me why I had failed to appreciate the most
convincing argument of the tongawalla. Sense
had now cohie back to me, and I was sorry to
have given myself to the devil in sheer pride
and a false notion of superiority. I decided to-
find out the tongawalla and to pay him his
four annas. For some days I hunted for him
in vain. One day at last I found him and asked
him to come to my shop. He hesitated, lest
I should scold him for that day’s conduct. But
I told him that I wanted to make amends for
my own stupid behaviour. I paid him his four
annas and apologised to him. His surprise knew
no bounds. He accepted the four annas with
some reluctance and left in grateful joy. A sort
of remorse had been gnawing into my mind all
these days, and I was now at peace with myself.
That day I had been guilty of grave himsa.
There was not only the disinclination to do the
right thing, there was contempt in my mind
for the tongawalla who, I thought, was lower in
the social scale than I. I was thoroughly ashamed
of myself, and am hoping that God may rid me
of any sense of high and low that may still be
left in me.”
A Personal Incident
And here with some apology I propose to
revive an incident that happened in my own
life in the satyagraha days of 1930, Readers of
Young India may know the story as told by
Miraben, but I shall give it again in my own
words. I was on the crest of a wave of
popularity, having been ‘dictator’ for about a
month, and crowds followed the prison-van in
which I was being taken to the prison after
my conviction. Some of them wanted to load
me with garlands, but the English sergeant on
the back of the van would not stop. I was
appealing to the crowds to go back, but they
chased the car, and when they found that it
was a futile chase they flung a stone at the
sergeant. It hit him right on the chin and
gave him a nasty cut. “ Ah, ” he exclaimed in
agony, catching the stone as it fell from his
face. “See what your wretched people do ! If
274
HAEIJAN
[ September 8, 1940
they adhered to non-violence we, should have
nothing to say, but they exploit Gandhi and
his non-violence.” I expressed my intense sorrow
and begged him to stop the van, so that I
might ask the crowds to apologise to him and
make amends. But it was useless, and he again
began to curse our people and ‘ satyagrahis
“But,” I pleaded with him, “what can I do
shut up in this van? I can assure you I am
deeply pained and ashamed and would do what-
ever amends you would suggest. Come along,
hit me with the stone, it will he good.” “No,
no,” said the sergeant, now relenting. I said,
“I mean what I say, you give me the stone,
and I shall inflict pain on myself with it, if
only it will pacify you.” But there was a
wire-netting between him and me, and he
laughed. “I know you mean what you say,”
he said, “but it is these folks that spoil your
game. Very few are like you. Look at what
they have done at Peshawar. Why can t such
people clear out of the movement?” He had
read the newspapers and had believed the
reports attributing violence to the Khudai
Xhidmatgars. “I know nothing about it,” I said,
“all I can do is to offer you my heartfelt
apologies.” “No, please,” he said, “I under-
stand. I am not blaming you. I am blaming the
people who are ruining your movement.” The
van now went past the Sabarmati Ashram, and
1 invited him to come to my house in better
•days. “I should be delighted if you came. And
now perhaps you would give me your name ? ”
1 said. He repeated it twice but I could not
catch it. “Wont you write it down?” I asked.
“ Certainly,” he said, “ but I have neither pen
nor pencil.” I handed him my fountain pen
through the wire-netting, and he wrote his name
down on a slip of paper. In a moment we
were at the jail gates. He proceeded to return
to me my pen. But I said: “No, I would ask
a favour of you, as you have been so good.
You have that stone in your pocket. Give it to
me and keep the pen instead. Don’t you think
it will be a better memento ? ” “ Most gladly ”
he said, and gave me the stone, and with over-
flowing appreciation put the pen away in his
pocketl I took the stone and threw it away.
“Pray fling even the memory of it away,”
I said. “It is gone,” he said and rushed away.
Two years after the incident, I was being
transferred from one jail to another and at
Poona station wa^ put into a taxi by the Police
Inspector in charge. As the taxi was moving,
a sergeant came running towards it, asking the
men to stop. I thought there was fresh trouble.
But lo and behold, it was the same Sergeant
Dangerfield who had recognised me and simply
came to shake hands with me. “Well, well,”
he said, “that incident appeared in the papers,
and i was as a result immediately transferred
from Ahmedabad.” “But, I do not mind it,”
he addecj with a smile, and waved good-bye,
I saw that a slight gesture of ahimsa had
won me a friend that day.
Another Discourse
Bharatanandji, whose acquaintance the reader
will make in another column, demurred to the
compliment given to his countrymen, the Poles,
by Gandhiji. “You say that the Poles were
‘ almost non-violent’. I do not think so. There
was black hatred in the breast of Poland, and
I do not think the compliment is deserved.”
“You must not take what I say, so terribly
literally. If ten soldiers resist a force of a thou-
sand soldiers armed cap-a-pie, the former are
almost non-violent, because there is no capacity
for anything like proportionate violence in them.
But the instance I have taken of the girl is more
appropriate. A girl who attacks her assailant
with her nails, if she has grown them, or with
her teeth, if she has them, is almost non-violent,
because there is no premeditated violence in
her. Her violence is the violence of the mouse
against the cat.”
“ Well then, Bapuji, I will give you an
instance. A young Russian girl was attacked
by a soldier. She used her nails and teeth
against him and tore him, so to say, to pieces.
Was she almost non-violent ? ”
“ How can it cease to be non-violence, if
offered on the spur of the moment, simply
because it was successful ? ” I interposed.
“No,” said Gandhiji almost inadvertently.
“Then I am really puzzled,” said Bharata-
nandji. “You say there should be no premedi-
tated violence and no capacity to offer propor-
tionate violence. Here in this case she by her
success proved that she had the capacity.”
“I am sorry,” said Gandhiji, “that I inadver-
tently said ‘no’ to Mahadev, There was
violence there. It was equally matched.”
“ But, then, is not intention ultimately the
test ? A surgeon uses his knife non-violently.
Or a keeper of the peace uses force against
miscreants in order to protect society. That too
he does non-violently,” said Bharatanandji.
“Who is to judge the intention? Not we.
And for us the deed in most cases is the test.
We normally look at the action and not at the
intention. God alone knows the intention.”
“Then God alone knows what is himsa and
what is ahimSa.”
“ Yes, God alone is the final judge. It is likely
that what we believe to be an act of ahimsa is
an act of himsa in the eyes of God. But for us
the path is chalked out. And then you must
know that a true practice of ahimsa means also
in one who practises it the keenest intelligence
and wide-awake conscience. It is difficult for
him to err. When I used those words for
Poland, and when I suggested to a girl believing
herself to be helpless that she might use her
nails and teeth without being guilty of violence,
you must understand the meaning at the back of
my mind. There is the refusal to bend before
overwhelming might in the full knowledge that
it means certain death. The Poles knew that
they would be crushed to atoms, and yet they
HAEIJAN
September 8, 1940 ]
275
resisted the German, hordes. That was why
I called it almost non-violence.”
“But, Bapuji, I cannot somehow forget that it
is God who is the judge, and God permits
violence. There is a Puranic story I should
like to tell you. God Shiva once suddenly dis-
appeared as he and Parvati were in the midst
of a conversation. But soon he appeared again.
On being asked where he had been, he said he
had gone to the rescue of a bhahta who had
been attacked, but he had come back on finding
that the bhakta had helped himself by striking
his assailant with a stone.”
“Well, well, no amount of argument can teach
us ahimsa. And you must not forget that one
cannot be sure of the purity of one’s intention
until one has gone through the whole course of
spiritual training laid down by masters of yoga
like Patanjali. Perfect chittashiiddhi (purification
of mind ) cannot be achieved in any other way.”
Here Bharatanandji seemed to be at one with
Gandhiji, and he agreed that anyone might
easily deceive himself. But he came with another
poser. “ Ahimsa, brahmacharya, spinning are all
sadhanasT he said, “and whereas one may suit
one, it may not suit another. Why have you
made of ahimsa a universal precept?”
“When a means has been tried by a scientist
and he has found it of infallible effect he puts
it before all. You know the maxim
What is true of the individual is
true of the universe.”
“But you lay down the same law for a saint
and a robber ! ”
“ The law is the same; the way may be
more difficult for the robber than for the saint.
The law is the ideal, no matter how much
individuals may fall short of the ideal. ”
“ But you forget the reality before the ideal.”
“No. The reality is always present before me,
but my striving is always to reach the ideal.
Euclid’s straight line exists only in our concep-
tion, but we have always to postulate it. We
have always to strive to draw a true line
corresponding to Euclid’s imaginary line.”
As I listened to this I was put in mind of
the exactly similar words of Carlyle : “ Ideals
can never be completely embodied in practice.
And yet it is never to be forgotten that Ideals
do exist; that if they be not approximated to at
all, the whole matter goes to wreck ! Infallibly.
No bricklayer builds a wall perfectly perpendi-
cular; mathematically this is not possible ; a
certain degree of perpendicularity suffices him ;
and he, like a good bricklayer who must have
done with his job, leaves it so. And yet if he
sway too much from the perpendicular ; above
all if he throw a plannet and level quite away
from him, and pile brick on brick heedless, just
as it comes to hand Such a bricklayer is in a
bad way. He has forgotten himself; but the
Law of Gravitation does not forget to act on
him; he and his wall rush down into confused
welter of ruin.”
Sevagram, 2-9-40 M. D*
HANDICRAFTS IN AMERICA
Miss Muriel Lester writes from America to
Gandhiji :
“ I am trying to get people here to spin, as it
seems to me awful waste to see hand-weaving done
fairly widely but all the yarn used hideously coloured,
dully regular, and machine-made.
A Canadian friend, who was an engineer before he
settled down in the country to revive handcrafts has
worked for years on bettering the handloom. He took
the English — Mrs. Thackeray’s — model with her consent
and has given it some new modification that would
please you. It is foolproof enough to permit even
me to set up work and to get going on it with
little or no trouble. I have promised to present one
of these to an East End People’s House here in
which I am much interested. But I will only give it
when they begin to spin, even though they look upon
this condition as putting the cart before the horse.
I told them about our people in Bow ( East End of
London), how in much less space than these people
have, they made sandals, printed Christmas cards, did
wood-cuts, made toys, received a lamb’s fleece, cleaned
the wool, carded it, dyed it in God’s own colours,
rich and varied, spun it, had it woven and made up
into good serviceable mufflers to keep the winter cold
out of their systems. On hearing about all this they
showed more eagerness to pursue further their own
crafts, and I am hopeful of gradually converting them..
This ‘ Housey Hospitality ’ is run by the Pax
people. They are Catholic, complete pacifist, ‘ Non-
Theft* people, possessing nothing. They feed 1,000
men with a modest breakfast consisting of a bit of
dry bread and one cup of coffee every morning.
They serve them humbly, honouring them as God’s
children, their brothers, whom they are proud to serve.
The movement is spreading all over the U. S. A.
Their wood-cuts and carving are charming. I was
anxious to buy some for a friend but they do not
sell. Dorothy Day, their founder, says : Directly you
start selhng, people get upset, discuss relative skills
and put forward claims, and count up hours spent on
production instead of giving the whole of themselves
joyfully to their craft.”
It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
While the mighty war lords are organising large-
scale destruction with all the ingenuity at their
command, humbler folk are thinking out simple
ways and means of bringing joy into the lives
of the poor. Who knows but that when the
lust for blood is sated the lust for possession
too will abate, and, among other monumental
changes that must take place for the new order
where war shall not be, cottage industries will
be given their proper position in the life of the
nation. For they give to man opportunities of
self-expression and self-development in the realms
of art, beauty and the spirit which the giant
machine with its inevitable cut-throat competi-
tion and desire for accumulating wealth cannot
possibly give.
Sevagram, 1-9-40 A. K.
Empire or Democracy ? by L. Barnes. Rs. 5-10 -1-
4 As, Available at Harijan office-Poona 4
m
HARIJAN
[ September 8, 1940
BISWA MISCARRIAGE AGAIN
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Moulvi Saheb Fazlul Haq, the Premier of the
largest Province in all India, has done me the
honour of addressing an open letter holding the
National Congress, of which he was at one time
an ardent follower and admirer, to public ridi-
cule. In his opinion the Congress has done
everything to wound Muslim feeling. Says the
Moulvi Saheb :
" On several occasions I have published instances
of the manner in which the Congress chariot wheels
of democracy have ridden roughshod over the feelings
and sentiments of countless Muslims and other mino-
rities, and in many cases with your connivance,
approbation and consent.”
I must plead not guilty so far as the indict-
ment concerns me. I have claimed to have
inquired into every case of alleged injustice
brought to my notice. I have never hesitated
to condemn Congress acts when facts have
demanded condemnation.
Let us, however, examine the latest illustration
quoted by the .Bengal Premier in support of his
charge. He deals at length with the notorious
Biswa miscarriage of justice. I am invited to
give my opinion on it. The Moulvi Saheb
evidently had not my opinion before him when
he penned the open letter. I refer him to Hanjan
dated 11th ultimo (p. 244) wherein he will find
my opinion. I adhere to every word of that
opinion.
If the cases of injustices quoted by him are
on a par with the Biswa case, his indictment
.singularly fails. The Congress Ministry had as
much to do with the miscarriage of justice as
the Moulvi Saheb. No judge has suggested that
the police were under the influence of the Con-
gress Ministry and that the latter used it to
procure the miscarriage. The fact is that the
ministers were in no way responsible for the
conduct of the police or the prosecution. Mis-
carriages, like the one under examination, have
occurred before now in India. But in every
case the police were held blameworthy, not
the Government-, except when a clear case of
Government complicity was made out. The
Moulvi Saheb has produced no evidence what-
soever in support of his statement that the
ministers had in any way interfered with the
conduct of the prosecution.
He has produced certain remarks of the court
on Pandit Shukla’s speech in the C. P. Assembly.
It amounts to no more than a reflection on the
political unwisdom of making a speech which
would seem to prejudge the case. The court’s
stricture in no way connects Pandit Shukla
with the police or the prosecution. Moreover
it is an obiter dictum which has no judicial
value. I doubt if the court was wise in making
the stricture without having called upon Pandit
Shukla to explain his speech. This explanation,
however. Pandit Shukla has given in his letter
to the President of the Congress.
The Moulvi Saheb has omitted to notice the
outstanding fact that the appellate court has
found as a matter of fact that Jagdevrao was
killed and that many persons were seriously
injured. Their regret is that the guilty ones
got off scot-free. Surely the ministers cannot be
blamed for this untoward result by the Muslims.
If a complaint can be legitimately made by any-
body, it is the Hindus who can make it. So far
as I am aware there were no Hindus tried, and
there were no serious injuries sustained by the
Muslims. The Sessions Judge may have erred
in weighing evidence. But the fact that he
condemned six Muslims to the gallows is a
matter that demands serious thinking by all
right-minded men. For if the ones condemned
were not guilty, some other Muslims were.
I miss in the Moulvi Saheb’s open letter any
regret for the murder of a Hindu leader and
for serious injury to other Hindus, and the fact
that the culprits who were responsible for the
murder and injuries had gone unpunished. Pandit
Shukla was a fellow Premier in ^ a neighbouring
Province. I suggest to the Bengal Premier that
courtesy required him to ask for Pandit Shukla’s
explanation before condemning him.
Sevagram, 3-9-40
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
A Riddle
Q. You have said that a non-violent person
should at all times be ready to renounce every-
thing, for the things of this world pertain to
the body and not to the spirit. If we were all
thus prepared, the question of violent or non-
violent warfare would not arise. Wars arc
fought in order to protect life and property,
should these be endangered. You also say that,
so long as the desire to protect life and property
remains within us, our ahimsa cannot be said
to be pure. How can we reconcile the two ?
A. Yours is a good question. I wrote with
reference to the satyagraha army. Take our
own country for instance. Its entire population
will not enlist in the army. But those who arc
willing to protect the millions by means of
non-violence will have to renounce all worldly
attachment.
Khadi and Purity
Q. Can one whose heart .is not pure wear
khadi ?
A. It appears you do not read the ixipers.
I have said and written times without number
that khadi, as cloth, is there for everyone to
use; the drunkard, the immoral, the thicf and
the dacoit included. But inasmuch as khadi has
been accepted as the symbol of our freedom, it
'September 8, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
is obligatory for all those who wish to gain
.and protect that freedom to wear it. And what
jou say is, therefore, applicable to such persons,
because a satyagrahi must be pure in heart.
He must shun drink and {immorality, and for
•him the wearing of khadi is a duty,
A Quandary
Q. I was walking along the railway line some
■distance from the station when *I saw a young
man standing on the lines with the obvious
intent of committing suicide. I tried to dissuade
him from carrying out his intention, but he
was adamant. Thereupon I dragged him away
and held him until the train had passed, but
inflicted some bodily injury on him by so
doing, r acted spontaneously. Was my action
violent or non-violent ? I cannot decide for myself.
A. It is good that you acted spontaneously.
We act truly only when we act spontaneously.
I have no doubt that your action was non-
violent and brave. You are to be congratulated
‘On saving the young man s life. You acted as a
true friend, just as a surgeon does when for the
.sake of the good of the patient he does not
•hesitate to operate even though the operation
‘inflicts temporary pain.
Sevagram, 2-9-40
( Translated from Hindustani )
HOW TO QUENCH IT?
C By M, K* Gandhi^
Elsewhere in these columns the reader will
see “A Seeker’s ” letter in which he has asked
a question which must have occurred to every-
one. The beauty lies in the way in which he
has introduced the question. He has depicted
the present conflagration in such lurid colours
that violence cannot but stink in our nostrils.
The reader is sure instinctively to exclaim :
“ Even if it were possible to win the kingdom
of the world by means of such violence, I
would not have it.”
But this exclamation will be of no avail to
quench the conflagration. No doubt it will some
.day quench itself, but it means mutual fratri-
cidal slaughter like that of the Yadavas of old
who destroyed themselves and relieved the earth
of so much burden. And such a consummation
would any day be preferable to a perpetual
.conflagration. But no one would wish for this.
What one would devoutly wish for is some
brave step to stop the conflagration before there
is total destruction. This can only be • a non-
violent step. How and when it can be taken
has to be discovered. The “ Seeker ” will be
satisfied when the discovery is made. In my
opinion the discovery has already been made. If
India can win Swaraj non-violently even while
this conflagration is going on, the latter is bound
to be extinguished by that one event. That
being my firm faith I fought the Wardha reso-
lution tooth and nail, and secured my freedom
not indeed to tickle my vanity but for the
success of the experiment. And if I have to
forego this freedom — as is quite likely — it will
be for the same purpose.
We read in our religious books that when-
ever, in the days of old, all ordinary means
failed to secure release from an ordeal or a
calamity, people resorted to tapasya ( penance ),
i. e. actually burnt themselves. I do not regard
these stories as legendary. Tapasya is of various
kinds. Misguided men can resort to it, as we
find them doing today. The wise also can do it.
It is worth while understanding the implication of
tapasya. It was by dint of tapasya that Western
scientists made their discoveries. Tapasya does not
simply consist of betaking oneself to the forest
and sitting down there surrounded by blazing
fires. That tapasya may even be the height of
folly. We have therefore to discriminate.
The question asked by “A Seeker” does not
arise out of despair. It is intended to quicken
the conscience of those who believe in ahimsa.
I have already shown the way. It is the fulfil-
ment of the thirteenfold constructive programme
described in a recent article. Those who will
carry it out in faith, in full knowledge, and
without the slightest fuss will have done I their
share in the tapasya to quench the conflagra-
tion. They will achieve two ends at the same
time. They will make India free, and will also
quench the conflagration. It is likely that the
number of such people is limited, so limited
that it can have no effect. I have maintained
that, even if there is one individual who is
almost completely non-violent, he can put out
the conflagration. But I have suggested a tapasya
which can easily be performed by the average
individual. In this age of democracy it is essen-
tial that desired results are achieved by the
collective effort of the people. It will no doubt
be good to achieve an objective through the
effort of a supremely powerful individual, but
it can never make the community conscious of
its corporate strength. An individual’s success
will be like a millionaire doling free food to
millions of starving people. We should, there-
fore, bend our energies to a fulfilment of the
thirteenfold constructive programme. It may or
may not bring Swaraj, but we shall surely have
the satisfaction of having done our best.
There is a warning in the “ Seeker’s ” letter
to which I should like to draw the reader s
attention. He says papers and broadcasts des-'
cribe with devilish pleasure the amount of
injury each is able to inflict upon the other, and
suggests that such news should sicken people
instead of providing pleasure, if they are to take
part in the propagation of peace. I agree. Such
people will not be able to carry out even the
constructive programme, for they will have no
faith in it.
However that may be, it is as clear as day-
light that, if this conflagration is to be put out
through non-violent effort, it will be done only
by India. Sevagram, 2-9-40
{Translated from Gujarati')
278
HARIJAN
[ September 8, 1940
A VILLAGE ENGINEER
In Delhi last month speaking to the members
of the Charkha Club Gandhi ji said : “ Mere disci-
pline will not do. What will discipline do
without understanding and a living faith in the
spinning wheel ? It cannot make for leadership.
Discipline is undoubtedly an essential qualification,
but what will happen to khadi if all spun for
discipline without believing in the virtue of
spinning? Discipline without faith is a mockery.
It is faith that makes all the discipline in the
world. As I speak to you I think of Bharata-
nandji ( formerly Maurice Frydman ) and his
invention called the DhanushtaklL He was able
to make his invention because he had put a
living faith in handspinning.”
This brief preamble is needed in order to
introduce Shri Bharatanandji to the readers. He
belongs to Poland, a land that was physically
wiped out by the German hordes that carried
devastation in their train, but which is alive in
the creative souls who are still working for its
regeneration. Bharatanandji is an engineer, and
like the distinguished electro-physicist Moscicki
who had 500 inventions in the field of electro-
physics and chemistry to his credit and held
scores of patents before he became President of
Poland, he too has an inventive genius. In
Poland he would have worked along the lines .
of Moscicki and geniuses of his kind. But he
has imbibed the true spirit of the Indian masses,
and his invention cannot run along any other
line than that of a non-violent society based '
on a handicraft civilisation. And who knows
his inventions may mean more for our people
than Moscicki’s mean for his ? But to come to
his inventive spirit. We met him first in
Bangalore some five years ago when he was at
the head of a technical department in Mysore
and came to visit Gandhi] i in order to study
the wheel and in order to be able to make
the prise-wheel which might produce ten times
the output of an average wheel. Ever since
his mind has been at it. But instead of pro-
ducing that prize-wheel he has produced another
type of a prize-wheel which is perhaps more
precious from the point of view of the poor
people of India.
His invention is not a wheel but a cross
between a takli and a wheel, if I may say so.
It consists of two pieces of bamboo, a strap of
leather and a simple takli spindle — all of which
can be had for two or three annas. I will let
Bharatanandji himself explain the construction
of his Dhanushtakli :
HARIJAN
279
SEPTEMBEE 8, 1940 ]
‘‘The principle of construction and v^orking of the
DhannshtakU ( spinning bow ) is similar to that of
an ordinary takli. While a takli vertically liangs
loose or stands on its bottom tip, and is kept
revolving by a twirl given to it with the fingers or
the palm of the hand, the Dhanushtakli is horzion-
tally fixed on two spindle-holders like the charkha
spindle, and has no pulley in the middle. The twirl
is given to it by the stroke of a strap of leather
stretched on a bamboo-bow. The strap is treated
with a mixture of resin and oil boiled together.
One stroke is enough to keep the spindle revolving
until you spin a thread of the usual length. The
fly disc gives it the proper momentum, and keeps
the spindle revolving after a stroke. The spinning
is exactly like on a charkha, and the winding and
removing of the yarn is quick and easy. The out-
put of the Dhamishtakli is 50 to 75 percent more
than that of a takli, and comparable with that of a
standard charkha.”
The whole contrivance is so incredibly simple
that an amateur carpenter can make it in the
course of a couple of hours. It is incredibly
cheap, and incredibly easy to learn. That is why
Gandhiji thinks that it may mean a revolution
in our rural economics.
Bharatanandji’s mind is busy thinking of an
■equally simple device of a carder, of a spindle-
truer, and so on. He has made for himself a
septic tank costing not more than a couple of
rupees. Whatever he turns his hand to, he
does in terms of the poor villager whose
welfare is his sole concern.
Sevagram, 28-8-40 M. D.
Notes
Travancore
There has regularly appeared for some time
now in the Indian Press a series of scares con-
cerning the internal situation in Travancore cal-
culated to startle the public and emanating from
the side of the authorities in Travancore. First
the public were informed that the Travancore
State Congress was working in close alliance
with the Communists, and that what was afoot
was a conspiracy for an immediate overthrow of
the existing order and Government in Travan-
core. Hardly had the public time to recover
:om this astounding discovery, then came the
jcond. So was the presence of a ‘fifth column’
nearthed somewhere in Travancore. Now, the
Dmmunists arc not fond of Hitler and the Nazis,
ad are not likely to raise a ‘fifth column’,
'his was of course followed by the news of
le finding of a Fascist-cell. There were other
atements that the Government had information
the collection, in many places far and near
bd outside Travancore, of vast amounts of
oney for stirring up trouble inside the
:ate, and there was the pungent insinuation
lat some State Congress workers were mis-
^propriating funds so collected. The latest is
le threat to prosecute Shri A. Atchuthan, the
‘ting president of the State Congress, and my-
self for the publication of certain matters in
the columns of Harijan. Nothing, however, has
appeared in support of the statements, some of
which are self-contradictory. Do the Travancore
authorities expect the public to believe these
unsupported allegations ?
G. Eamacharadraiis
Ahimsa, India's Heritage
“ H. G. Wells says of this remarkable monarch
Emperor Asoka that he is the only military monarch
on record who abandoned warfare after victory. After
the invasion of Kalinga he was so disgusted by the
cruelties and horrors of war that he declared he would
no longer seek conquest by war but would do so by
religion. He seems to have ruled his vast empire
in peace and '^vith great ability. He was no mere
religious fanatic. Wells, however, goes on to say
that India has abandoned Asoka’s doctrine. But this
accusation is not wholly correct, for Hinduism absorb-
ed ’all that was best in Buddhism, and the impress
of Asoka was not of a transient nature. His heri-
tage still lives.
The Indian idea is that the State exists for just
administration of society, and hundreds of examples
can be given to prove this. The story of Shivaji
furnishes one such. Shivaji could not understand
why his guru Ramdas went out daily to beg in spite
of the fact that he had made him rich beyond
avarice. Therefore he went and made a gift of his
entire kingdom to the saint. Ramdas accepted the gift,
appointed Shivaji as his vicar, bade him rule the realm
not as an autocrat but as a servant, responsible for
ail his acts to a higher authority. From then onwards
Shivaji adopted tbe robe of a Hindu sannyasi as his
standard. Likewise in the seventh century, a thou-
sand years before Shivaji, King Harsha, who was
ruler of the whole of Northern India from Kashmir
to Assam and as far South as the Narmada river,
used to make a five-yearly offering of all his pro-
perty to his subjects. This king reigned for 30
years, and Hiuen Tsang was present at the last of
his Sarvaswayajna at Prayag. It used to take some
months to give away the accumulated wealth of five years.”
V. A. Smith in his ‘Early History of India’ says ;
“Except the horses, elephants and military accou-
trement, which were necessary for maintaining order
and protecting the royal estate, nothing remained. The
king freely gave away his gems and goods, his
clothing and necklaces, earrings, bracelets, chaplets,
and neck jewels, and bright head jewels without stint.
All being given away he begged from his sister
an ordinary second hand garment, and having put it
on he paid worship to the ‘Buddhas of the ten
regions’, and rejoiced that his treasure had been
bestowed in the field of religious merit.”
The above interesting information, gleaned from
an article entitled ‘Of cows and kings’ in Rasktra--
vani, is seasonable as showing that attempts
have been made in India to enforce non-violence*
on a mass scale not without success. If our
Princes could enter into the spirit that animated
Shivaji and Raja Harsha, there would be na
States problem.
Sevagram, 2-9-40 A. K*
280
HAEIJAN
[ September 8 ^ 1940 -
EEPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY
( K. G. Mashruxmla )
I understand that at the last A. 1. C, C>
meeting some Congressmen said that, though in
their personal capacit^^ they whole-heartedly
believed in non-violence and regarded it as
the only ultimate solution of the world’s ills, in
their representative capacity they had to confess
that the country was not prepared to go to
that length, and that the Working Committee’s
resolution was more in accordance with the
general Congress opinion than that of Gandhiji.
In my humble opinion, there is some unsound
reasoning in this assumed conflict between per-
sonal and representative capacities. If properly
analysed, it will be found that this is really a
conflict between unreasoned and reasoned opinion.
When a representative says that personally he
accepts Gandhiji’s position, the question is, why
does he do so ? If Gandhiji’s position is only
ethically perfect but as a practical proposition it
is tantamount to committing national suicide, then
why should he accept it even in his personal capa-
city ? As an intelligent person his only ground can
be that, on careful thinking, he is convinced of
the soundness of Gandhiji’s position. What, there-
fore, he means to say by contrasting it with
his representative opinion is that, if one has
to represent only an opinion based on careless
thinking or the first impression or the upper-
most instinct of the average person, he would
have to admit that they think in terms of
the Working Committee’s resolution. But the
duty of a representative is to represent what
he thinks will be the considered opinion of
the people, and not their ill-considered opi-
nion. And, if he admits that his personal
opinion is the sounder one, he must proceed
on the assumption that the people will be
able to understand that reasoning if it is
properly explained to them. It is possible that
he may be unable to carry conviction to the
people. In that case, he has to resign, instead of
raising his hand in favour of a resolution with
which his reasoning is not in agreement. This
is, I think, the only right attitude when great
principles and responsibilities are involved.
When Gandhiji suddenly cancelled the Bardoli
satyagraha on account of Chauri Chaura, the
majority of Congressmen were opposed to the
decision. But when he reasoned with them, they
gradually became converted to his view. One’s
considered opinion is the only opinion which
can be represented. A representative cannot
represent an opinion which does not satisfy his
own reason. Even if he thinks that a question
is capable of being argued on both sides with
equal force, he must adhere to what satisfies
his own reasoning.
Autobiography
Gandhiji’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
“A SEEKER’S’’ QUESTION
The Editor, Harijan
Sir,
You must be reading in the papers how the^
war between Germany and England is being
waged. Aeroplanes filled with thousands of
incendiary bombs do untold havoc, and news-
papers and broadcasts describe with pleasure the-
amount of injury each side is able to inflict on-
the other. The general public is consoled by
being told that the damage done in the enemy
country is greater than what the enemy has-
done in theirs. It is said that military objectives,
are the sole targets of the raiders; but it is-
impossible to believe that, flying at great heights -
and often through smoke screens, the bombers can
really take proper aim. And then we hear from.
both sides of the ‘ successful ’ blockades, the
object of which is to spread famine; and famine
must necessarily, more than even bombs, hurt
the civilian population.
Is it impossible for these belligerents to think
in terms of humanity and stop this carnage?
How can any good even come out of war?
And must we not, therefore, declare ourselves-
unreservedly against war for or against anybody
or any ideology ?
There must be many godly people in the
warring countries who think in this way but
have not the strength to raise their voice in
protest. May we not help them to do so and
at the same time rouse the sleeping conscience.
of all thinking people?
Yours
A Seeker
( Translated from Gujarati )
Handmade Paper
Our purchases and sales of handmade paper for
the month of August have amounted to Rs, l,755-6-6-
and Rs, 2,158-14-9 respectively, bringing the total-
figures of purchases and sales from January 1 to August
31 to Rs. 15,432-14-3 and Rs 12,129-12-6 respectively.-
Rs. 1,403-12-0 have been given for paper-cutting
and envelope-making.
Manager
Wanted Agents
For selling copies of Harijan in various towns of
India. For terms apply to the Manager.
CONTENTS
Ahimsa in Daily Life
Handicrafts in America
Biswa Miscarriage Again
Question Box
How TO Quench It?
A Village Engineer
“Representative Capacity”
A Seeker’s Question
Notes :
page-
M. D, 275-
A. K. 275
... M. K. Gandhi 276
... M. K. Gandlii 276
... M. K. Gandhi 277
M. D. 278
K. G. Mashruwala 280
280
Travancore G. R. 279^
Ahimsa, India’s Heritage ... A. K. 279^-
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
Sabscription Rates — INLAND : One year, Rs. 4, Six months, Rs,- 3-8. FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5-8 or, 8 sh. or 3 dollars
Reg. No. B. 3092
Editor ; MAHADEV DESAS
VoL. VIII No. 31 ] POONA — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
SEVAGRAM NOTES
A Caw-protector
Here in Sevagram a strange kind of brother-
hood and identity of interests are springing up. To
outward seeming we are so unlike one another,
for we have come from varying strata of society,
and belong — or rather used to belong — to all
kinds of classes, castes and creeds. But an identity
of interests now binds us and makes us work
towards an ideal order of society.
A new-comer, whose acquaintance I am sorry I
had not so far made because of my preoccupa-
tions, must now be introduced to the reader.
Prabhakar hails from Andhradesh. He came as a
Harijan student to Maganwadi, received training
there in paper-making, bee-keeping and soap-
making, and then came here to spend some time
before he went back to his part of the country.
It was found that he had given up milk, and
Gandbiji wanted to know the reason why he had
done so. He said he was born in a community
which did not scruple to cat beef, meat, carrion
and pork. “ And carrion too of the worst type,
if there can be degrees in badness,” he said, with
visible emotion. “The carcass would be rotting
for days in the earth. We would stealthily un-
earth it and dry the carrion for days and feast
upon it, I was lost to all feeling in this matter,
I took a peculiar delight in eating it and also
mutton. Toddy I loved, and my widowed mother
would spend her hard-earned income to get me
toddy. She also drank it. With dijSiculty I went
to school, failed twice in the matriculation
examination, and, thank God, thought of going to
the Andhra Jateeya Kalasala. It was there that
I began to read and understand Young India. I
read Gandhiji’s and other articles on cow-protec-
tion and my eyes were opened. I gave up the
hateful ‘delicacies’ and decided never to return
to my folly. After finishing my course in rural
re-construction I came to Maganwadi. There I spent
sleepless nights over the offence I had done to
the mother cow. I could not possibly persuade
myself to take milk, and I abjured it in expiation
for the sin I had committed.” “I had to say all
this in order to explain to Bapu why I had given
up milk,” he added.
“ Was Bapu convinced ? ” I asked him. And in
reply he narrated a discourse which was as
striking as instructive:
“ I said to Bapu that I had realised that the
.cow was like our mother. ‘Mother gives us milk
for a couple of years. Mother cow gives us milk
the whole of our life.’ But Bapu said : ‘ I am pre-
pared to go one better than you. Mother cow
is in many ways better than the mother who
gave us birth. Our mother gives us milk
for a couple of years and then expects us to-
serve her when we grow up. Mother cow
expects from us nothing but grass and grain. Our
mother often falls ill and expects service from us*
Mother cow rarely falls ill. Hers is an unbroken
record of service which does not end Tvith
her death. Our mother when she dies means-
expenses of burial or cremation. Mother cow is
as useful dead as when she is alive. We can
make use of every part of her body — her flesh,
her bones, her intestines,, her horns and her skin.
Well I say this not to disparage the mother who
gives us birth, but in order to show you the
substantial reasons for my worshipping the cow*
Although I am such a cow- worshipper, I ask you
to take milk. I don’t take cow’s milk as I took
a vow about it, but yours is not a vow. But you
see what I am doing to expand the dairy here. If
you feel so much for the cow, you can dedicate
yourself to her service.’ I was amazed at the
manner in which Bapu described his zeal for
cow-protection, and I accepted his] advice as a
word of command.”
“ What a story ! ” I said. “ What about your
mother ? Does she know all this ? ”
“ She knows much of it. She has given up toddy
and carrion. She wants me badly at home. I have
not seen her for three years. She is a hospital
attendant. She used to receive tips from patients.
I have persuaded her to resolve to accept them
no more. She gets clothes from Government. I
have asked her not to receive them as I would
make enough clothes out of my yarn for her. I
propose to go about from village to village with
the dhanushtaklU and with the message of handi-
crafts, cow-protection, and of peace.”
The Bullocks* Festival
That story is, I think, a good preamble to the
description of an evening of Gandhi ji with the
cows and bullocks in Sevagram. A group of villa-
gers now comes every Sunday morning to see
Gandhiji who talks to them and answers any ques-
tions they may have to ask. On the 1st of this
month they invited him to go and see their cattle
parade, and Gandhiji readily agreed. That one day
is the only gala day in the year for the poor
beasts. No work is taken from the bullocks that
day, so much so that if there is anything urgent
to do the men will do it themselves. The bullocks
HAEIJAN
282
SEPTEMBEE 15, 1940, .
are garlanded and decorated, but I do not know
whether they are given any special feed that day.
But as one sees them standing in beautiful array
munching their grass and lowing, one wishes they
had a voice to speak to us and we had some more
< for them ) useful way of expres'sing our grateful-
ness to them.
So Gandhiji gladly spent the evening with them.
He told them how happy he was that they cele-
brated this ancient custom of giving a holiday to
their cows and bullocks. “ In ancient India,” he
said to them, “ a man’s wealth was reckoned
according to the number of cows he possessed,
not according to the gold and silver he owned.
The cow was worshipped as mother, for she
sustained us with milk and her male progeny
helped us to carry on agriculture which kept us
.alive. Cows are there in the West also, and they
arc, kept very well indeed. But their male pro-
geny is not used for agricultural purposes, it is
turned into beef. From time immemorial this
idea has been repugnant to us, and we have wor-
shipped the cow and her progeny. The bullocks
are the means of transport everywhere in our
villages and have not ceased to be such even in a
place like Simla. The railway train and the motor
■car go there, but all along the mountain road I
found bullocks trudging up and down dragging
heavily-laden carts. It seems as if this means of
transport is part of our lives and our civilisation.
And the bullock has to endure if our handicraft
civilisation is to endure.
“But we have fallen on evil days. Our idea
of wealth has changed, we reckon it in terms of
hard cash, and have come to neglect our cattle
which have been progressively deteriorating. I am
.glad that you are celebrating this day, but you
must know its implications. A day’s celebration
would have no meaning if you neglected them
the rest of the year. You have to find out whose
.animals are the best and to discover how he
manages to keep them so well. You will find
out whose cow gives the largest amount of milk
and discover how he keeps, her and feeds her.
You may fix some prize for the best bullock and
the best cow in the village. We are here for
your service. Parnerkarji, who is a qualified dairy-
man, and Balwantsing, known for his love and
care of the animals, are at your disposal. The stud
bull is being maintained for the benefit of the
village. You must make use of all the facilities
we have provided. But you can do so only when
you have a genuine love for your animals.” “Here,”
he said, showing a spiked stick that is used in
order to prod the bullocks, “ here is a thing of
which you and I should be ashamed. Supposing I
were to prod one of your children with this stick,
would you let me do it ? And if you will not, how
dare you treat these useful animals so ? Nowhere
else in the world, to my knowledge, is such an
instrument of torture used. You should either give
this up or not invite me to these shows. You
should treat them so kindly and handle them so
geiitly that they will understand a word or a
gesture from you without the use of any stick
at all. Address yourselves to the task from today,
and see what progress you. can make by the time
we have the next festival: Our aim is to make of
Sevagram a model village. I have on another
occasion told you what to 'do in other matters.
Today I am telling you that without model cattle
we cannot have a model village. Our service is
at your disposal, but; Our service too cannot be of
much use without your co-operation. I hope you
will, therefore, meet together at once and frame
a programme of immediate action.^’ .
A Marriage
In the midst of daily work and other preoccu-
pations it was no easy matter for Gandhiji to agree
to celebrate the marriage of a Harijan worker
from South India. But he almost went out of his
way to do so, because he was a Harijan worker
and had come all the way for the purpose from
Malabar. Shri Velayudhan of Travancore is a
graduate and a diploma-holder from the Tata Post-
graduate School of Sociology, and is a research
scholar appointed by the Harijan Sevak Sangh for
South India. Shrimati Dakshayani from Cochin is a
B.A., L.T., and both belong so separate sub-castes
among Harijans. Marriage between them is against
orthodox usage, and Shri Velayudhan had set his
heart on having his marriage performed through
Gandhiji according to strictly religious riteg. So
they came here on the morning of the 4th and
announced their intention. For a moment Gandhiji
was wondering whom to invite to ofi&ciate as the
priest. We could easily have got a friend from
Wardha. But almost in a flash he decided that Shri
Parchure Shastri, than whom we could not expect
to get a more learned priest, should officiate. A
sufferer from leprosy he has been with us for
some time, and is spending his days in worship
and meditation and teaching Sanskrit. He readily
agreed, and the ceremony was performed right in
front of his hut on the morning of the 6th. It
was so charming with all its simple solemnity,
though the ignorance of Hindi on the part of the
bride and bridegroom lent a touch of humour to
the occasion. The Shastriji, however, knew enough
English to explain the meaning of everything that
he said to them. ‘Please repeat the shloka I have
recited,’ he said to Gandhiji, as he asked him to
. give the girl away in marriage. ‘ Not so quick
please, repeat it word by word, so that I can
follow,’ said Gandhiji, and as he repeated the
simple words, he warned the couple; ‘Do you
know what this means ? I am being asked to
give away the bride to you for the purpose
of service and for the protection of religion.’
Then the marriage vow was explained to them,
and it was solemnly taken in front of the
sacrificial fire and with all the gods and heavenly
bodies as witness. The whole thing was perform-
ed in about an hour, and Shastriji then enjoined
upon them to keep a vow of silence until even-
ing when they might break it after Gandhiji had
shown them the Saptarshis — the Seven Stars' — ^
especially Vasishtha with his wife Arundhati.
’Septsl^ 3:?-5. 15i,: 1:940 |j
/HABIJAN
'283
Shastriji had been punctilious in these 'details.
Jde had himself fasted and advised the couple to
fast before the ceremony. At the close of the
ceremony he himself sang an abhang from
Tukaram soulfully — an abhang which is on the
lips of every Maharashtri and which Gokhale
described as the favourite hymn af Ranade —
” (He who declares as one’s own
the lowly and the lost — know him to be a
saint, know that God abides in him ). It was so
beautifully appropriate.
The couple were delighted, Velayudhan said to
me: “ If I had celebrated the marriage at home,
there was no question of getting a Brahman to
officiate as priest, not to think of a revered
Shastri like our Shastriji here, and certainly we
should never have known the solemn meaning of
this great rite.” And Gandhiji was ^delighted in
that he had discovered that day that whenever in
future there was a marriage to celebrate, he need
not go out of Sevagram to look for a worthy
priest. “ I think I have not yet come across a
Shastri like Parchure Shastri who has done the
thing with so much understanding and without
the slightest fuss, so expeditiously and so
intelligibly,” he said to me.
Sevagram, 9-9-40 M, D.
QUESTION BOX
( By M. K. Gandhi )
Indian States and Congress Activity
Q. Should Congress members be enrolled in
Indian States ?
A. This question has been frequently put and
answered by me. I have always held that it
would be inadvisable to enrol Congress members
in the States. There is danger of friction and
clash with authority, and the latter interfering
with • this work of organisation. Indian States
subjects who may be anxious to become Congress
members can enrol themselves on the register of
the nearest Congress office of their province in
British India. But it would be better for them
not to bother about membership and to confine
themselves to such activity as is possible within
their own States. This can be largely only con-
structive work. It will arouse self-consciousness
and solidarity among the masses. In fact it may
on the whole be better to make people Congress-
minded in the true sense of the term than to
enrol them as Congress members.
A. I. S. A. Workers
Q. Supposing members are enrolled in the
States for the Congress, should not workers of the
Charkha Sangh or the Praja Mandals participate
or co-operate in Congress political work ?
A, Neither of these organisations may go out-
side its allotted field. The Charkha Sangh workers
are already precluded from doing so by the exist-
ing rules. Although it is a creation of the Con-
gress, it has no connection with Congress politics.
It is purely an economic and philanthropic
'iprganisation and cannot be made to subserve a
dual purpose. The Praja Mandals should be ruled
by their peculiar position. They are functioning
under heavy odds. It would not be fair or proper
to burden them with Congress work. It follows
from this that they cannot be asked to lend co-
operation to the Congress organisation, unless it
be in the sense of silent homage expressed in the
constructive work. All these organisations can
help one another by each rendering true service
within its well-defined ambit. Thus if the Con-
gress is successful in the political field, the Charkha
Sangh and the Praja Mandals would profit thereby.
Similarly the success of the Charkha Sangh equally
serves the Congress. Any single Praja Mandal
that achieves success in its mission strengthens
the Congress to that extent. By straying from
our allotted fields we are likely to do more harm
than good.
Sevagram, 9-9-40 ( Translated from Hindustani )
Students and Satyagraha
Q. Why do you object to students participating
in the satyagraha campaign, if it is launched ? And
why must they leave school or college for good,
in case they are permitted ? Surely students in
England are not silently looking on when their
country is engaged in a war.
A. To withdraw students from schools and
colleges is to encourage them in a programme of
non-cooperation. It is not on our programme today.
If I were in charge of the satyagraha campaign, I
should neither invite nor encourage the students
to leave their schools and colleges. We have seen
by experience that the students have not yet got
over their passion for Government schools and
colleges. That these institutions have lost their
glamour is a gain, but, I do not set much store
by it. And if the institutions are to continue,,
withdrawal of students for satyagraha will do
them no good and will be of little help to the
cause. Such withdrawal will not be non-violent.
I have said that those who intend to join the
campaign should leave their schools or colleges
for good and resolve to devote themselves to the
nation’s service even after the struggle is over.
■There is no comparison between the students
here and those in England. There the 'whole
nation is involyed in the war. The institutions
have been closed down by the managers. Here,
on the contrary, students leaving their schools
and colleges would do so in spite of the heads
of those institutions.
Are Not All Fasts Violent?
Q. Are not all fasts violent ? Do I not coerce
a friend when I try to prevent him, by means of
my fast, from doing a wrong act?
A, Fasts undertaken according to the “ rules
,governing them are truly non-violent. There is no
room there for coercion. If a friend of mine is
going astray, and if I impose suffering on myself
by fasting in order to awaken his better instincts,
it can be only out of love. If the friend for
whom I fast has no love in him, he will not res-
pond. If he has it and, responds, it is all to the
good. This is how I would, analyse his act:^ He
valued his love for me more than his bad ways.
There is a possible risk, I admit, namelv’ that as
284
HABIJAN
[.'September 15, 1940
soon as the effect of the fast is over he would be
tempted to go back to his old ways. But then I
can iast' again. Ultimately the increasing influence
of my love will either convert the friend to the
extent of weaning him completely from his evil
ways, or repeated fasts may lose their novelty,
blunt his mind, and make it impervious to my
fasting. It is my conviction that a fast undertaken
out of genuine love cannot have such an un-
toward result. But because such a result is not
impossible we cannot afford to disregard this pure
instrument of moral reform. The risk, however,
makes it clear that he who fasts should be
properly qualified, and that it should not be
lightly undertaken.
Penance
Q. Is not the realisation of one error and the
resolve never to repeat it a penance in itself? Is
any further penance necessary ?
A. Realisation of an error, which amounts to a
fixed resolve never to repeat it, is enough penance.
One casts away his evil habits as a snake casts off
his skin, and thus purifies himself. Such self-puri-
fication is itself complete penance. But he who
gets into the habit of committing errors cannot
•easily shed it. For all such, penance in its accept-
ed §ense, if undertaken with discrimination, is
likely to be a great help.
Sevagram, 10-9-40 ( Translated from Gujarati )
Sept. 15
1940
ECONOMIC RUIN IN SINDH
( By Af. K, Gandhi )
The following printed letter has been circu-
lated by Shri Tarachand D. Gajra and Shri
C, T. Valecha :
“ We trust, you received our previous communica-
tion, ‘,A note on the present state of lawlessness in
Sindh *. Herewith follows another one, * Economic ruin
due to the lawlessness in Sindh*. It is a sad story of
■silent misery that has befallen those who are migrating
without any financial aid from the public or the autho-
rities. Elsewhere such a thing would evoke wide inter-
national public support and sympathy. We hope your
interest in our province will grow,”
I take: the following from the statement referred
to in the letter :
“ Great havoc has been wrought in the economic life
of the province by the present lawlessness in Sindh.
The village life is almost at the brink of total ruin.
The peasantry, whose only property and means of sus-
tenance are the bulls and the milch cattle, find them-
selves without both on account • of depredations ' by
thieves, as thefts of cattle have risen to abnormal pro-
portions. The lot of the cultivator has come to this
that he passes the day of toil followed by a night of vigil.
The Hindus in the villages do not feel themselves
strong enough to face thieves and dacoits. Hence they
have taken to migrating from smaller villages to bigger
villages, and those who hre in bigger villages are
leaving for urban areas.
With a view to having some idea of this migratory
movement, herein below are given figures about one of
the sixtyone tahsils in Sindh, namely Hyderabad taluka.
These have been collected by Prof. Ghanshyam M.L. A,
(Congress — Hyderabad Rural Constituency). From
several villages almost all Hindu families have left, and
from most of the remaining ones nearly fifty per cent
of the Hindus have migrated.’*
Then follow the figures about the migration
from 42 villages in the single tahsil of Hyderabad.
Of these all the Hindu families in 17 villages have
migrated. Of the rest some villages had only one
family left. More than 50 per cent of the families
had left all the other villages.
The framers of the statement thus comment
on the figures :
“To fully grasp the significance of the above figures
it should be borne in mind that Hyderabad tahsil is in
one of the best situated parts of the province. It is
immediately round the district headquarters, while the
Hyderabad district itself is the central district of the
province — both the eastern desert boundary and the hilly
western border of the province lying far away. Even
the Sukkur district, which witnessed the recent abomi-
nable atrocities, is far distant from Hyderabad, If that
is the state of affairs in the safest part of the province*
the extent of migration from villages in the tahsils in
other districts such as Dadu, ' Jacobabad, Larkana and
Sukkur can easily be imagined.”
I need not reproduce the other paragraphs of
the statement. The whole of it is a dignified and
dispassionate narrative of the calamity that has
overtaken the Hindus. The narrative shows that
it has begun to affect the Muslims also. The
Hindus of Sindh are enterprising. They supply
the felt wants of the Muslim agriculturists. The
two are closely intertwined. Communalism of the
virulent type is a recent growth. The lawlessness
is a monster with many faces. It hurts all in the
end including those who are primarily responsible
for it.
The writers of the covering letter arc right in
saying that the Sindh calamity is an all-India con-
cern. It is as much the duty of the Congress as
of the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha
to deal with the situation in the right spirit. The
Government of Sindh will be judged by the
manner in which they handle the situation. Nor
can the Central Government look on indifferently
while a province of India, which is watered by the
mighty Indus and which contains the remains of
our proud and ancient past, is being devastated by
• lawlessness which, if not checked in time, may
travel beyond the imaginary boundary of Sindh.
For what happens in India, whether good or bad,
in one part, must ultimately affect the whole of
India.
On the train to Bombay, 11-9-40
Wanted Agents
For selling copies of Harijan in various towns of
India. For term's apply to the Manager,
^September 15, 1940 •]
HAEIJAN
28§
Notes
Congress Ahimsa
I' am being inundated with letters complaining
that by giving my definition of ahimsa before the
Poona Congressmen, who saw me recently at
Wardha, I have seriously circumscribed the scope
-of ahimsa. These friends forget that my remarks
were confined to Congress ahimsa only. Personally
I would not kill insects, scorpions or even snakes.
Nor would I under any circumstance take meat.
But I may not impose the creed of such ahimsa
on the Congress. The Congress is not a religious
institution; it is a political organisation. Its non-
violence is limited to human beings. If it were
to be further extended, only Hindus, and among
• even them only Vaishnavas and Jains, would be
left tp participate in it. Millions of Hindus who
eat fish and meat would be excluded. My proposi-
.tion, to my mind, is so simple and straight that
I never thought that anybody could object to it.
My critics should further understand that many
'Mussalmans have not accepted even the limited
ahimsa of the Congress as their creed, and that
the Congress itself has, by its Wardha and Poona
resolutions, so cramped its scope as to render it
.almO|St meaningless. It follows, therefore, that any
attempt to widen its scope as to include the sub-
human species will defeat its purpose. Unlimited
.ahimsa will take time to be universalised. We
w,ill have ample cause, to congratulate ourselves if
we learn to substitute the law of love in society
for that of the jungle, and if instead of harbouring
ill-will and enmity in our bosoms against those
whom we regard as our enemies we learn to love
them as actual and potential friends. It should
be remembered too that jivadaya (kindness
to animals) does not enable us to overcome the
‘‘si?: deadly enemies’ within us, namely lust, anger,
greed, infatuation, pride and falsehood. Give me
the man who has completely conquered self and
is- full of goodwill and love towards all, and is
ruled by the law of love in all his actions, and I
for one will offer him my respectful homage even
though he be a meat-eater. On the other hand
the jivadaya of a person who is steeped in anger
and -lust but daily feeds the ants and insects and
refrains from, killing has hardly , anything in it to
recommend itself. It is a mechanical performance
without any spiritual value. It may even be worse
— a hypocritical screen for hiding the corruption
within.
.'Non-violence during Riots
• ■ A friend writes:
“ How can non-violence be efficacious during riots ?
By self-immolation we can influence only those with
whom we have already established living contacts. But
the hooligans who perpetrate violence during riots are,
■as a rule, hirelings imported from outside. How can
they have any scruples about hurting those whom they
have never known before and for whom they can have
no regard or consideration ? ”
The question deserves careful consideration. The
friend who has put it is a valiant worker who
nearly lost his life in trying to do his duty during
a riot. I have often written on this question
before. The pity of it is that Congressmen have
never seriously thought over the question of find-
ing a non-violent way of quelling riots. Their
non-violence was restricted to the sole purpose of
offering civil resistance to the authorites. In my
opinion the non-violence that goes so far and no
further scarcely deserves the name ‘ahimsa’. You
may, if you like, call it unarmed resistance. So far
as it is a device for embarrassing the Government
it is, a species of himsa. To quell riots non-violently,
there must be true ahimsa in on’s heart, an ahimsa
that takes even t’ne erring hooligan in its warm
embrace. Such an attitude cannot be cultivated.
It can only come as a prolonged and patient effort
which must be made during peaceful times. The
would-be members of a peace brigade should come
into close touch and cultivate acquaintance with
the so-called goonda element in his vicinity. He
should know all and be known to all and win the
hearts of all by his living and selfless service. No
section should be regarded as too contemptible or
mean to mix with. Goondas do not drop from
the sky, nor do they spring from the earth like
evil spirits. They are the product of social disorga-
nisation, and society is therefore responsible for
their existence. In other words, they should be
looked upon as a symptom of corruption in our
body politic. To remove the disease we must
first discover the underlying cause. To find the
remedy will then be a comparatively easy task. So
far we have not even attempted a proper begin-
ning. But it is never too late to mend. It is
enough that we are at last alive to the necessity
of it. We have now to follow it up with prompt
action. Let everyone who is interested make a
prompt beginning in his own neighbourhood. The
difficulty mentioned by my correspondent will
automatically resolve itself, if we proceed with
our effort in the right spirit.
How to Universalise Khadi?
A correspondent writes:
“ 1. The spinning propaganda is going on in every
part of India; but I wish the A. 1. S. A. would simul-
taneously open khadi production centres where people
could send or take their yarn, without much' expense,
for weaving, and where they could sell their yam if
they wished.
2. The A. i, S. A. should allow every spinner to have
his or her yarn woven locally and also to sell it locally.
3. Khadi bhandars in big towns and cities mean
heavy overhead charges due to house-rent, electric light-
ing, management, and other office expenses, and that
makes khadi too dear. It ought to be possible for
people to purchase cheap khadi in villages or taluka
centres.” ,
All the three suggestions are good. But the
great difficulty in carrying them out is that we
have not enough workers. There is no doubt
that all the yarn should be woven where it is
spun, and that, the . khadi should be disposed of
there and then. Therein lies the beauty of khadi.
The economics of khadi are to a great extent
HARIJAN
(JOnfrary to those of mill cloth. Cloth manufac-
tured in Manchester is meant for use not in
Manchester or England or Europe, but to be ex-
ported to Asia or Africa for the use of the people
there. On the contrary khadi is meant to be
made for the millions by the millions living in
villages. Mills use cotton imported from all
parts of the world. Cotton for khadi should
be produced where it is turned into khadi. We
have not yet attained the ideal of the science
of khadi, and to that extent the foundation of
khadi must be regarded as weak. There was no
science of khadi when we began to use khadi. It
has evolved with the progress of khadi, and even
now it is far from being perfect. But ever-watch-
ful khadi servants are constantly thinking about
it and going on perfecting it in the light of ex-
perience. I am afraid it will be some time before
we can reach the ideal pictured by the correspond-
ent. The A. I. S. A. is not slack in its effort,
but it is faced with difficulties at every step. The
main thing needed for the universalisation of khadi
is the co-operation of the people. Machine manu-
facture can be planned in an office and can be
carried out according to plan. Where people have
to-be converted to an idea it does take time. We
have therefore, for the time being, to put up
with khadi bhandars in towns and cities. Most of
these are self-supporting. But for them there
would not be the demand for khadi that there is
today. While, therefore, we should make every
attempt to reach the ideal, we cannot jump to
.it at one bound.
Sevagram, 9-9-40 M. K, G.
(Translated from Gujarati}
Not Quite New
Apropos of my suggestion that a successful non-
violent defence against aggression from without is
not so fantastic as is supposed, a correspondent
sends me the following extract from a writing in
Vismhharti of 1927 :
“ Of course, we must not think that killing one
another is ^the only form of war, Man is pre-eminently
a moral being. His war instinct should be shifted to
the moral plane and his weapons should be moral
weapons. The Hindu inhabitants of Bali, while giving
up their lives before the invaders, fought with their
moral weapons against physical power. A day will
come when men’s history will admit their victory. It
was a war. Neverthless it was in harmony with peace,
'and therefore glorious.”
Sevagram, 11-9-40 M. K. G,
A Praiseworthy Endeavour
Begum Kulsum Sayani sends an instructive
report of her nine months’ literacy work among
Muslim women in Bombay. She started by em-
ploying two teachers for two months, on a salary
of* Rs. 20 per mensem, and made over three cen-
tres each to them where they had to hold classes
fof two hours daily. The response was not too
good to begin with, as is generally the case with
women, and Begum Sayani came to the conclusion
that, in addition to mere literacy, other subjects
bt utility and interest should be taught and per-
1940
sonal contacts with the women’ made in order tc
attract them. Later Begum Sayani organised centres
for the Bombay branch of the All India Women s^
Conference and the Anjuman-i-Islam on behalf of
the Adult Education Committee. In the former
350 out of 400 women were made literate and in'
the latter 220 out of 288. Begum Sahiba has,
endeavoured to keep the level somewhat higher
than the accepted standard of literacy. She insists'
on her literates being able to count up to 100, do
a little simple arithmetic, and read the 2nd primer
in Urdu. For general knowledge she has been
giving regular talks on cleanliness, punctuality,
truth, religious and communal tolerance, social
duties, etc. Newspapers have been read to them
in order that they may learn to take an in-
terest in national and foreign affairs. The spirit
of nationalism is sought to be inculcated.
Iqbal’s famous ‘Hindustan Hamara' is compul-
sory in every class. The women have responded
in a wonderful way to recitations of poetry. In
addition Begum Sayani is issuing a post- literacy
journal every month called Rdhbar. The danger
of lapsing back into illiteracy is ever present, and
some suitable literature for freshly made literates’
is very essential. Rahbar is a useful little paper
and should therefore fulfil a much felt need. This
sister’s example may well be emulated by women'
workers elsewhere. Begum Sayani is to be con-
gratulated on having published Rahbar without
disfiguring it with a single advertisement.
Sevagram, 7-9-40 A. K.
Town-dwellers and Village Industries
The following is a summary of a contributioit
from Shri Gajanan Naik :
“ It is essential to study the root cause of the
appalling poverty and unemployment that prevails in
the country. Inasmuch as the use and consumption
of machine-made articles takes the bread out of the
mouths of our artisans, those who use these goods
are guilty of adding to our misery.
A middle class family in Bombay spends Rs. 125
annually on food as against Rs. 30 on clothing.
But even those who wear khadi forget that, their
nutritive value apart, it is just as essential from the
economic point of view also to use hand- pounded rice,
hand-ground flour, ghani oil, gud or hand-made sugar,
etc. The Navjivan Sangh in Bombay ha\'e sold Rs.
20,549 worth of hand-made foodstuffs during 1939-40,.
but this is a mere drop in the ocean in the city of
Bombay. It is interesting to know that for every
maund ( 28 lbs. ) of flour sold ten annas go to the
labourer for grinding. The argument that these articles
are more expensive does not hold water because of
the benefit to health and consequent saving ^ in
medicines and doctors’ bills, and the fact that in
the long run a lesser quantity of these foodstuffs is
consumed.
There are many lodging houses in Bombay where
hand-made foodstuffs could easily be used with
advantage. A small one which houses 32 boarders
has spent Rs. 663 worth of hand-ground flour, hand-
pounded rice, hand-made dal and ghani oil in' six
months. The monthly cliarge is Rs. 17 includin
September 15, 1940 i] HARIJAN 2S7
^ pure , cow's ghee and milk. This does not compare
’ unfavourably with boarding houses where mill products
are used. Boarders may insist on being supplied with
these nutritive articles of food, A small investment
of Rs. 200 only is needed to conduct small dining
clubs. Restaurants too may follow suit. The educated
-unemployed may earn a little money by hawking the
products of village industries from door to door in
our towns. In this way a great impetus could be
given to the work of the A. L V. I. A.”
^ C Abridged by A. K,)
Old Mind v. Old Age
,, The v7ord ‘ old ’ is generally applied to those
who are well advanced in years. In our land there
cannot be many such for our average age is only
24 -years. England and other Western countries,
however, where the average span of life is twice
as much as ours, can number many old people in
their population.
But if we cannot boast of many ‘old in body’,
we can certainly boast of plenty who are ‘old in
mind’. And I agree with the sage who said that,
in his opinion, the term ‘old age’ is far more
-applicable to those who have lost the will and
energy to improve themselves by constant research
in new fields of endeavour. This unfortunate inert-
ness of mind prevails among both literate and
illiterate — possibly even more among the
so-called educated.
I once happened to say to a teacher in a
national school that, as we were trying to make
Hindustani the national language, he should make
.an effort to learn it. As it was an*easy language
he would be able to learn it during the summer
vacation. But he told me that he was quite in-
capable of doing so. It was not possible at his
;agc (he was only middle-aged) to undertake any
new endeavour, and he had had so much to learn
he was tired of it ! And if one suggests that in
order to work towards Hindu-Muslim unity it is
^ essential that one should have a fair knowledge of
each other’s culture, history and customs and it
would, therefore, be a good thing for teachers in
national schools to learn both Hindi and Urdu
scripts, the answer one gets is; “Well, this is the
-limit! How can we possibly learn a script which
is so wholly different from ours ? ” In the matter
of spinning the general excuse is; “We have not
the time to spare, and even if we had, how can
we suddenly take up something we have never
put our hands to up till now ? ”
This mental debility is indeed tragic, and it is
real old age. It is good to live to a ripe old age.
But that cannot be an end. We must live to
purpose. And if we do, we are never too old
to learn.
Sevagram, 8-9-40
( Adapted from Shri Vinoba’s writings )
Autobiography
Gandhiji’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
Mahatma Gandhi
•By S. l^dhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0
Postage 8 As. Available at Harijan office-Poona 4.
KATHIAWAD FAMINE WORK ,,
( By G- Ramachandran )
I sojourned recently for a few days in Rajkot,
so full of poignant memories now. There I met
my old friend Shri Chhaganlal Joshi whom I
had known intimately at the Satyagrahashram,
Saharmati, many years ago. We were pleased to
meet each other, and he brought Dhebarbhai to
see me.
On the second day the latter offered to take
me with him on a tour to inspect the famine
relief centres they were conducting. I jumped
at this chance of taking a peep into rhe
heart of Kathiawad. I spent some time that
day at the office of the All Kathiawad Famine
Relief Committee. I found out there with
what wonderful regularity and throughness
this wholly non-offiicial committee was conducting
famine relief operations throughout Kathiawad.
Shri Darbar Gopaldas is the President of that
committee, with Shri Becharlal Kalidas Jasani as
Vice-President and Dhebarbhai and Chhaganlalji as
Secretaries. Over 80 centres were working under
the committee. The weekly reports and accounts
were in perfect pattern furnishing a wealth of
detail regarding every aspect of the work and
expenditure. Relief work was. going on under
four heads ; sale of grain at cheap prices, labour
employment of unemployed villagers, relief to
the old and infirm, and cattle relief. The extent
of work under each of these items astonished
me. Grain was being sold at over 80 centres
at less than the cost price, and this item alone had
cost nearly three lakhs of rupees. Under the
second item some fifty thousand men and women
had found employment in deepening village tanks,
building tank-bunds, and constructing village
roads at 51 centres. Within two and a half
months the committee had given out Rs. 30,000
worth of grain in wages. Rs. 27,000 had been
spent in giving relief to the old and infirm,
and Rs. 15,000 in providing fodder and cotton
seeds for the famished cattle. All this extensive
relief work was being carried on almost entirely
through some 300 honorary workers. This earnest
band is a worthy offspring of the fine leader-
ship and inspiration of the Sardar of Gujarat.
Now to the brief story of our tour. We left
Rajkot at noon on the 6th of August. Our first
stop was ,at Anandpur, 28 miles from Rajkot.
Here we saw a tank and a stream embankment
on which some four hundred village men and
women had been employed at a cost of Rs. 1,200.
All wages were paid in grain. We saw a well
which the Harijan Sevak Sangh had, constructed
for the Harijans and which was one of the
many ‘* Gandhi wells” I saw in the tour. The
second stop was at Chobari. Here in the midst
of a barren hard tract, I was shown a very old
well. It was a beautiful well though in thorough
disrepair. Steps led into it from all four sides.
You could walk over the top of the well on
beautifully carved stone beams. Inside and at
the water level too were stone blocks and beams
288
HARIJAN
[ September 15, 1940'
with faded but beautiful carvings. Some ancient
banyan trees stood nearby. A little beyond was
the dried-up bed, surrounded by a stone em-
bankment, of a lake with a little stone-carvcd
Mandap in the centre. Who knows but some
flourishing group of villages or an ancient town
had once existed there under some chieftain who
had an eye for creating things of beauty in the midst
of his desolate lands. The next stop was at the
village of Sanosra. It was in this village that Bechar-
lalji, who was also with us, was born, and where he
had once worked as a poor boy long before he
became the wealthy man that he now is. Here,
besides a cheap grain shop of the relief committee
there was a free kitchen for starving villagers. At
a little distance from the village we inspected
another tank embankment on which some three
hundred unemployed villagers had found labour
costing Rs. 750. The next stop was at Chotila.
Here we saw a big tank embankment and a tank
which had been deepened at a cost of over
Rs. 2,000 and employed over six hundred men
and women for several days. In fact at the
time of our visit, some five hundred men and
women were at work giving finishing touches
to the embankment.
At Than I was delighted to see an excellent
school built and run by the Harijan Sevak Sangh,
and also a big well dug by the Sangh. At Sara
in the Sayla State we saw a cheap grain shop.
At Mathak in Dhrangadhra State, and at
Devalia which we next visited, work on tanks
and bunds had given labour to hundreds of
people at a cost of Rs. 300 and 800 respectively.
We then entered the Maliya State. The Miyanas
of the Maliya State are known throughout
Kathiawad. They are Muslims and live under
the C. T. Act. They own lands but are heavily
indebted. They are a tall, sturdy and fierce-
looking people. For a long time many of them
had lived by dacoity and looting. The Kathia-
wad Relief Committee had a somewhat tough job
in organising famine relief work among them.
But the Chief of the Maliya State willingly
co-operated with the Relief Committee and
consented to bear half the charges of all relief
operations. It was at Maliya that I saw the
largest labour employment work, A huge tank,
almost like a beautiful lake, had been deepened
and three of its sides elevated as high embank-
ments at a cost of nearly Rs. 2,500. This work
had given employment for some weeks to about
400 Miyanas. We visited some of the Miyanas in
their own houses. Dhebarbhai, who was welcome
everywhere^, discussed with them his spinning
scheme for their women. At Maliya the cheap
grain shop had for weeks sold grain at the rate
of over a hundred maunds a day. Grain worth Rs.
40,000 had been already sold. Seeds worth Rs. 1,000
had been distributed at six annas cheaper per
maund than the market price.
Now that famine conditions have ceased, the*
Relief Committee has begun to close down its«
centres. But they are planning permanent relief
for the unemployed in the hundreds of villages
they have already touched, through a spinning,
scheme. Kathiawad appears to be a dry, hard
and grim country. I should imagine that spin-
ning has a great future in its villages.
One Aspect of the Cloth Industry
The following figures, gleaned from the*
A. I. S. A. Report of 1938 and the Indian Cotton-
Textile Annual for 1939 • arc interesting. They-
show that 633:^ crores of square yards of cloth
are consumed annually in India.
This need is*
supplied as follows;
From Foreign sources
... 63 crores
„ Indian mills
... 409 „
„ Handwoven cloth
•••
Woven from foreign and
home mill yarn
... 160 „
Woven from Kliadi
... Iv ,,
It is obvious from the above that handspun and
handwoven cloth could be increased 500 times and
4 times respectively, if it were to supply the
entire present need of the country. It has been
stated that the total cost of the cloth works out
at 200 crores of rupees. If it were all produced
from handspun yarn, it would be worth about
Rs. 120 crores, after deducting the cost of
cotton, dyeing, etc. In other words, 12 crores of
our villagers would be richer by that amount of
money. If the mills were to produce all the cloth,
Rs. 40 crores would be given in wages to mill
employees. The remainder, 80 crores, would go
into the pockets of capitalists or be spent on iron,
stone, coal, etc., to feed big industry. And the
money would be distributed entirely in the cities, ,
But if the villagers were to get the Rs. 120 crores,
it would mean an increase in income of Rs. 10
per head per annum for them.
These figures are thought-provoking. Shall we
minister to the needs of the many or cnricli a
Sevagram, 8-9-40
(Adapted from Shri Krishnadas Gandhi’s
in Maharashtra Khadi Patnka)
L few?
article
CONTENTS
PAGE
Sevagram Notes
M. D.
281
Question Box
M. K. Gandhi
283
Economic Ruin in Sindh ...
M. K. Gandlii
284
Kathiawad Famine Work G. Ramachandran287
Notes :
Congress Ahimsa
M. K. G.
285
Non-violence during Riots
M. K. G.
285'
How to Universalise Khadi ? M. K. G. '
285
Not Quite New
M. K. G.
286'
A Praiseworthy Endeavour
A. K.
286
Town-dwellers and Village
Industries
G. Naik
286
Old Mind v. Old Ace
Vinoba
287
One Aspect of the Cloth
Industry
K. G.
288
Printed and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhuslaan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
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Editoff : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. VIII No. 32 ] POONA — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
SEVEN DAYS IN BOMBAY
The Five Days
An author of the history of the Russian Revo-
lution wrote some years ago, in diary form, a
history of the happenings of the ten days that
preceded the birth of Soviet Russia. He gave that
book the title Ten Days That Shook the World,
May it not be that the seven days in Bombay — •
12th to 18th — may come to be recorded in history
as the Seven Days that Shook the World ? And in
a better sense perhaps ? The days in Russia had all
the colour and terror of a revolution. The Seven
Days here had a different character altogether.
They were as peaceful as anything can be, and
they mark a distinct stage not only in India’s
march towards peaceful freedom but also perhaps
in the march of the world towards peace.
The whole setting was one of peace and not of
war. For even if it was a gathering of men who
were determined on war for the assertion of their
right to self-existence, it was a gathering of people
who would not hurt even a fly. The Government
had, therefore, no need for any elaborate police —
not to say of military — preparations in anticipation
of what might happen. Those who met were the
guests of a most peaceful body of people — the
East India Cotton Association, who do not usually
interest themselves in politics but who at this
unique juncture in the history of India braved the
risk of being regarded as having identified them-
selves with politics. For they knew that the issue
at stake concerned them no less than the rest of
India, perhaps more.
The Working Committee was facing the hour
of the greatest crisis in Congress history. The
days since June 18 when they issued what is
known as the Wardha Statement had been days
of excruciating travail both for them and for
Gandhiji. For Gandhiji they had been days also of
intense prayer. I may not produce here a diary
of the seven days, but Pandit Jawaharlal in his
speech at the A. 1. C. C. described in one or two
sentences what had happened. He was in bitter
pain over the wild and irresponsible utterances of
a handful of the members of the Committee, and
was trying to plead with them to see the error of
their ways. “You know,’' he said, “what Gandhiji
has done? He has accepted full responsibility for
the resolution. But do you know how it came
into being? How great he spiritually is I do not
know. But I know that politically he is without
a peer. So far as matters of principle are con-
cerned his iron will will not bend to any appeal
for a compromise. But he listened to us for
hours, let every aspect and argument that we bad
to press work upon his mind. He produced one
draft and then another and then a third until he
saw that he had met the considerations advanced
by every one of us, and was not content until the
result was a resolution that was as far as possible
the collective reflection of the minds of us all.’*
(I am not quoting his words, I took no notes,
but I am giving the impression left on my mind
by his moving speech.)
And as one could see it, Gandhiji seemed to
grow from moment to moment. He took two
hours to produce the first draft which became the
basis of the resolution as it ultimately emerged.
He did not know that in spite of the intense
mental labour that he had devoted to it his draft
reflected the minds of the members. When he
addressed the house in Hindi, though he spoke in
firm and measured tones there was trepidation and
hesitation. “The responsibility I am assuming,” he
said, “ is perhaps the greatest I have ever assurned
in my life. I do not know whether I shall succeed
in satisfying you or even satisfying me. Nor have
I the vaguest notion of the result. But for over 50
years I have trained myself never to be concerned
about the result. What I should be ‘concerned
about is the means, and when I am sure of the
purity of the means, faith is enough to lead me
on. All fear and trembling melt away before that
faith, and once we have launched forth there is
no looking back.” In the English speech the firm-
ness seemed to have increased, the soul in him cried
out: “We have waited long enough. Now comes the
moment when the virtue of waiting has become
vice.” And yet he said: “There is impenetrable
darkness before me regarding the future course of
action. Would you trust your ship to a captain
who is groping? If you would, well and good.
Otherwise reject his generalship summarily.” For
days he had waited for light, but beheld obscurity.
A glimmer had appeared on the horizon with the
confidence with which he advised the Working
Committee. But still there was a pall of haze.
The next day it had lifted, and he was able to
declare almost in the exaltation of certitude : “The
thing I have placed before you is not small. I
myself had thought it was small. But it was not
so. It has not come from my intellect. It has
come from recesses of the heart where dwelleth
the Innermost, It is He who has given it. It was
born at the end of infinite travail.”
Verily once more the words of the Psalmist
had come true : ‘ Light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for the upright in heart.’
290
HAEIJAIT
[ September 22, 1940
Whea Virtue Becomes Vice
I have in brief given the setting in which the
event happened. I shall now proceed to give the
outstanding portions of his three utterances. They
have appeared at length in the press, but as they
are unpruned and unauthorised, one is apt to miss
the wood for the trees. Mine will be a rapid
summary with pauses at passages of outstanding
importance.
An esteemed friend had sent him a telegram on
the eve of the decision reminding him of the
attitude of sympathy and of unconditional co-
operation that he had adopted at the beginning of
the war. He had not forgotten it. But if he
could not take the mind and the heart of the
Congressmen with him, that attitude would have
been useless. “ If what I said did not find an echo
in their hearts, they would have been of no use
whatsoever to the Viceroy, to the great British
Nation and to India. ” But even after the first
resolution on the War adopted at Wardha they
had waited for exactly a year. He was not sorry
that they had waited, the waiting had been all to
the good, it had given him at any rate the strength
to adopt the attitude he was taking. Why did the
very man who had day in and day out advised
non-embarrassment now stand before them with
the latest resolution? He said: “There comes a
time in man’s life when virtue itself becomes vice.
Virtue which was virtue in its time, when torn
from the purpose to which it was dedicated, be-
comes vice. The exercise of self-restraint was good
-enough, but when it threatened our very existence,
the national spirit, whether it abided in Congress-
men or non-Congressmen, when it threatened to
kill the very spirit which enabled us to exercise
self-restraint, then that virtue becomes vice. ”
He proceeded: “I am speaking not only for the
Congress, but for all who stand for national
freedom — Muslims, Parsis, Hindus, Christains — even
for those who are against the Congress, so long
as they represent Indian aspirations, viz. unadul-
terated Independence. I should be untrue to all
•of them if I said now, ‘No embarrassment to the
British’. My repetition of it would be just as
useful for my salvation and for the guarding of my
virtue as the repetition by a parrot of God’s name
which is but a mechanical vocal effort without
intelligence, and which cannot take him near to
God. Therefore, if I exercised that self-suppression
at this critical moment in the history of the
nation, it would be suicidal, I should be untrue to
myself. We cannot sit still when we see men
like Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Jaiprakash
Narain, than whom I know no braver or straight-
er men, being marched to jail not because they
preached violence but because they carried out
the behest of the Ramgarh resolution. It had be-
come a point of honour with them. It is not
satyagraha to watch thus people being marched
to jail in the exercise of their right of freedom of
speech. If we looked on, the Congress would dis-
appear and with it the national spirit. India, said
the Maulana, at the time of Nan-Kana tragedy.
was one vast prison, and therefore if we delivered
her we would easily be able to free not one but
all the Gurudwaras. If our liberty of speech is
choked, the movement for the freedom of our
country from bondage is choked. Then as I have
said the virtue of self-restraint is going to become
vice. The virtue cannot be exercised, as the
resolution says, to the extent of self-extinction —
extinction of the national spirit, wherever it
resides, whether amongst Congressmen or non-
Congressmen. ”
We Learsst It from You
Further exercise of self-suppression, he explained,
would be an act unfriendly to Britain. We have
learnt, from Englishmen, to value the priceless
boon of freedom of speech. In expressing his
sympathy for Britain and his admiration of the
bravery of the British, Gandhiji brought this point
out in a striking way: “We have sympathy for
all the suffering nations in this war. I wish well
of Britain. The destruction of a single innocent
child in England shocks me. When I heard of the
impending damage to St. Paul’s I felt as much as
I should have if the Kashi Viswanath and the
Jumma Masjid were in a similar plight. I know
the sentiment that surrounds St. Paul’s. The news
therefore shocked me. But what can I do beyond
saying that it has shocked me? In spite of the
shock, the British people are playing and dancing
and carrying on their business as usual, and we
are told that an eleven year old lad writes to his
father that he would far rather be destroyed in
England with his parents than seek refuge in
Canada. That fearlessness is in their bones, and if
we have learnt anything from them it is that.
Even if /London and the whole of the British
Isles were to fall, they have the courage to carry
on the fight from Canada, Australia or New Zea-
land. Therefore let us emulate their bravery, let
us not be carried away by our sympathy to
the extent of neglecting our clear duty. ”
That duty is to declare from the house-tops
that we shall have none of this war, we shall
do nothing by way of providing men, money or
ammunition for the conduct of the war. To let the
Viceroy tell the world that the whole of India is
with Britain in this war, is to allow him to de-
ceive the world. If the war was being fought for
democracy, with what justice can that claim be
advanced when democracy was being trampled to
death in India? Dominion Status was being promi-
sed, but the Provincial Autonomy that was given
to the provinces under their own Act was reduced
to a mockery. In his impassioned Hindi utterance
he asked: “Was Punjab consulted ? Was Bengal
consulted ? Was Sind consulted ? Was the Fron-
tier Province with a population of over 90 per
cent Musalmans consulted before India was declared
a belligerent? Were the people in these provinces
asked whether they wished to join the war ? How
can one man, however good, be invested with so
much power over nearly 40 crores of people ? I
am a friend of the Viceroy and hope to remain
his friend until the end of my days, but the situa-
Septembee 22, 1940 ]
HAEIJAN
291
tion created by imposing him as a virtual dictator
on. India is intolerable. It is a negation of demo-
cracy. ”
The Demand
The Congress has during the past one year
exhausted all the means in its power to bring about
an understanding with Britain. It asked for a
declaration of India’s Indpendence. It declared
that it would be content if British Government
were prepared to accept a Constitution framed by
a Constituent Assembly. It offered a third alter-
native and in doing so almost stultified itself, nearly
went back, as it seemed to me, on the solemn
professions of the past 20 years of its existence.
It was pledged to winning Swaraj by non-violence;
it forgot that in promising Britain its active co-ope-
ration in the war-effort in case Britain recognized
India’s indpendence, it was contradicting itself and
offering to pay the price of its principle — for the
sake of Independence. But happily even that offer
was rejected. Now comes the fourth offer in the
field: “Simply declare that India is free to carry
on, non-violently and openly, anti-war propaganda,
India is free to preach non-cooperation with
Government in their war effort, and we will
have no civil disobedience.”
That is the lowest possible test of their honesty.
Civil liberties are the very foundation of demo-
cracy, and if you deny them you deny democracy.
Only the other day a British judge defined the
essence of democracy. Delivering judgment in
an action brought against The Daily Worker, Mr,
Justice Stable observed : “ The expression of
views, no matter how unpopular, how fantastic or
how wrong-headed they may appear to the majo-
rity, is a right, and a right which I, among others,
arc paid to see preserved. I subscribe whole-
heartedly to the words that fell from the lips of
Mr. D. N. Pritt, K. C, (defending Counsel), that
it is those views which are held by only a few,
those views that are unpopular, those views which
do run counter to the views of the great majority
of mankind, particularly in times of national
emotional crises, such as war, it is those views
whicli this court should be particularly zealous to
protect.” It would seem that what is going on in
India is the most flagrant negation of this
elementary principle of democracy.
This is how Gandhiji put it in his direct simple
language: “In order completely to clarify our
positic)!!, 1 propose to approach the Viceroy, if he
will be g(’>od enough to see me, — and I have no
doubt that he will ' * and to place my difficulties
before him. I will approach him in your name.
I will tell him thac this is the position to vrhich
we have been reduced. We do not want to em-
barrass you and deflect you from your purpose in
regard to war effort. You go your way, and w'e go
ours, undeterred, the common ground being non-
violence. If our advice prevails, there will be no
war effort on tlic part of our people. If, on the
other hand, without your using any but moral
pressure you find that they respond, then wc
cannot help it. If ynu get assistance from the
Princes, from the zamindars, from anybody high
or low, you can have it; but let our voice also
be heard. If you do .so, it will be eminently
honourable; it will certainly be a feather in your
cap. It will be honourable of you — although you
are engaged in a life and death struggle — that
you have recognised this liberty. It will be
honourable of you that you do so although you
have limitless powers to choke our voice and
give us the fullest possible freedom, consistently
with the observance of non-violence, to tell the
people of India not to join the war effort.”
That is the position that would put the Con-
gress and the British Government at ease with
one another. As Gandhiji put it : “ The British
can then say to the world, ‘ Judge us by our con-
duct. Here in India we are playing the game.’ ”
What of Freedom ?
Then, it may be asked, what about our demand
for Independence ? Independence is contained in
the right to declare and preach non-cooperation
with the war effort. “ That liberty, ” he said,
towards the close of his speech, “ is the founda-
tion of your Swaraj. If that foundation-stone is-
in danger, you have to exert the whole of your
might to defend that single stone.” He explained
this thought at greater length in his closing
speech :
“ I am sorry that your mind has failed to grasp
a very simple but a very important point that I
made yesterday. I described the right of free
speech as the foundation-stone of Swaraj. Let mo
explain this. I have yet to come across a complete
definition of Swaraj. I do not think I have been
able to give it myself. I do not think even
Jawaharlal has ever given it. It is possible that some-
one from amongst you may be able to give it, as it
has often happened that others have defined for me
things I have been labouring for. If anyone can
do so, I shall gladly make him my ‘guru’. But this
resolution contains the seed of Swaraj. If you hold
fast to it, all that the movers of the various amend-
ments desire is automatically attained. If we can
win this liberty of free speech — either by fighting
for it or by negotiation — we have secured every-
thing — free speech for a communist like Dr. Ashraf
and free speech for a Forward Bloc- wallah like
Sardar Sardul Singh. If I give it a religious colour,,
I can call it full religious liberty, the liberty cul-
tural and religious that the Muslims are asking for.
You say you want independence. But you forget
that it is beyond their power to give it to us.
Nor can we be independent by simply declaring
that we arc independent. We can be independent
only, when after the British have left, we can
remain unafraid and rule ourselves unafraid of any
attack from any foreign power — Japan, Germany,
Russia or Afghanistan. It is absurd to launch civil
disobedience today for Independence. How arc we
to fight for independence with those whose own
independence is in grave peril ? Even if independ-
ence can be given by one nation to another, it is
not possible for the English, Those who arc them-
selves in peril cannot save others. But if they
( Continued on p. 293 )
292
HARIJAN
[ September 22, 1940
I WAS UITJUST BECAUSE WEAK
(^By M. K. Gandhi)
I know Rajaji enough to understand that he is
too brave to need any support from anybody, he
is too philosophic to harbour an injury for many
hours, if not minutes. I know also that his fine
sense of humour enables him to enjoy a joke at
his expense. Therefore this confession must be
taken as one for my own satisfaction only.
I have told the public that, had I not egged
him on, Rajaji would never have brought forward
his resolution at New Delhi. Having great regard
for his judgment and his honesty, when he asserted
with amazing assurance that I was wrong and he
was right in the implications and application of
non-violence, I allowed myself to doubt the
correctness of my interpretation to the point of
allowing and encouraging him to act on his. I
showed weakness and became unjust to him. A
weak man is just by accident. A strong but non-
violent man is unjust by accident. I was unjust
to Rajaji because I exposed him to ridicule and
unkind attacks. Though no ultimate harm has
come to the Congress because what I still consider
was an error has been rectified, it is riot a good
thing for a great leader to have his work undone
all of a sudden, for I know that Rajaji still feels
that he was right. If his view had prevailed, the
resolution that now holds sway would not have
taken the shape it has. I would still have been
out of the Congress. For I was out of it at
Wardha before the Delhi resolution was taken as
the natural outcome of Wardha.
If I was unjust to Rajaji, I was also unjust to
the Working Committee. For had I remained
firm, the Wardha resolution too would not have
been passed. I hold that, so long as I am accepted
as the sole authority on satyagraha and its impli-
cations, they must not be a matter • of vote. My
colleagues may debate ’the pros and cons with me
and try to convince me that their interpretation
is right. If I cannot accept it, my judgment should
prevail because I am both the author of satyagraha
and general in satyagraha action. The only way
the colleagues can avoid my judgment is by
absolving me from guidance. They did in so many
words at Wardha. But it is plain that the absolu-
tion was not what the word means. They were
most unwilling to give me absolution. It was
given because I wrung it from them. My weakness
began at Wardha. When a serious crisis arose,
I should have raised the issue of jurisdiction. It
was outside the Working Committee’s jurisdiction
to decide upon the meaning and application of a
matter which belonged to their expert who was
their interpreter and executive oflEcer.
I am aware that all the members of the Working
Committee do not accept my opinion as to juris-
diction. The matter has not come up for decision.
But before the Committee and I came to the
resolution now before the country I had made
the confession I have now published for the sake
of an esteemed co-worker.
It is my conviction that, owing to a series of
fortunate combination of acts of the members at
the last Wardha meeting, the present resolution
was conceived and we have been saved from a
national disaster. We have come to a decision
which, if Congressmen react to it as they should,
must raise India to a position which it has never
yet occupied, and brings it nearer to her goal as
nothing else could have done.
Whether my estimate is right or wrong time
alone can show. But this is merely by the way.
Nor is the purpose of this confession to invite
the reader to accept my judgment as to the
jurisdiction of the Working Committee. The men-
tion of it was relevant to show the nature of my
error. It is unpardonable for a general to
surrender his judgment to a fellow oflScer unless
the conviction goes home to him that the latter
is right — not may be right.
I hope I have given the public enough material
to show that in all that Rajaji did he was
throughout brave and correct. The incorrect-
ness was due to me.
And I wish to say the same thing about his
‘ sporting offer ’. It is no part of this confession
to defend it. But so far as I can see, the offer
was truly sporting, if the correctness of the Poona
resolution be accepted. It should be remembered
that the Muslim League is a great organisation
wielding influence upon the Muslims of India.
The Congress has dealt with it before, and I have
no doubt it will deal with it in future. However
mistaken Qaid-e-Azam may be in our estimation,
let us give him the same credit for honesty of
purpose as we claim for ourselves. When the war
cloud is lifted and when India comes to her own,
surely Congressmen would just as much welcome
a Muslim, a Sikh, a Christian, or a Parsi as
Premier, as they would a Hindu, and even a
non-Congressman, no matter of what faith he may
be. I am sure that Rajaji’s ‘sporting offer ’ meant
no more and no less than this. When passions
have died, critics will read his offer in its proper
light. It is wrong to misjudge a public worker,
and doubly so when he happens to be of Rajaji’s
calibre. He has lost nothing by the mis judgment.
But a nation may easily harm itself by misjudging
its true servants and denying itself their services.
Above all, when the Congress may have to embark
upon a great non-violent struggle for fundamental
liberty, it behoves Congressmen to guard against
harsh, hasty and uncharitable judgments.
On the train to Weirdha, 18-9-40
A Correction
In the article entitled * Moral Support* which appeared
in Harijan on August 18, Duryodhana’s army is
inadvertently described as consisting of 18 divisions* It
should have been 11.
:SEPTEMBEE 22 , 1940 ],
HARIJAN
293
SEVEN DAYS IN BOMBAY
( Continued from p, 291 )
fight unto death for their freedom, if they are at
all reasonable, ‘ they must recognise our right of
free speech. This they can certainly do. It is
•our duty to fight for that right. If they resist it
and we have to fight, and they are embarrassed,
they will have invited embarrassment themselves.
‘’This liberty is a concrete issue which needs no
defining. It is the foundation of freedom, especially
when it has to be taken non-violently. To surrender
it IS to surrender the only means for attaining
freedom.
“When Rajaji told me that his own offer was
easier for the British to accept than mine, he was
-expressing half the truth. It may be easy indeed
for them to recognise our Independence, but I can
understand, during the war, their reluctance to
grant us central responsible government. For once
they grant it, they have to carry on through us.
■One day it may be Rajaji, another day it may be
Jawaharlal, and then it may be a Damodar Menon.
This co-operation that we offer them would be
to them a commodity of doubtful value, for they
do not trust us, and if I was in the Viceroy’s posi-
tion, I should understand his misgivings. It is
risky for them to carry on war through those
whom they do not trust. But where is the risk in
'letting everyone declare that he is free to refuse
all co-operation in war and preach that non-
cooperation to everyone he comes across, unless
■they want to enforce co-operation at the , point
of the bayonet?”
The Only Limiting Condition
But the right sought to be asserted is subject to
' the condition that wc observe non-violence. “ The
condition is necessary because a Government that
is based on violence cannot tolerate violence.-
That is the unavoidable logic of violence. But
• even those who arc violently inclined^ need not
despair, if they will listen to me today. For if
wc win Swaraj through non-violence, even the
violent, if there are any, will have not only the
liberty to preach but to do violence. There would
be no army. But that will not prevent a Sikh or
a Khaksar from possessing a sword or swords. If
the rest are all believers in non-violence, what
■violence can these indict? The restraint of speech
and action of the majority will automatically
exercise similar restraint on those who are con-
trarily inclined. At any rate, if I had my way as
the President of a non-violent Indian republic, I
should not hesitate to give those who are violently
inclined, the liberty of violent speech. On the
other liand, let mo tell them that under a violent
State they cannot expect that liberty.
“ Let me tell those who want mass civil
disobedience, strikes, no rent campaigns, that
they forget that all those things arc there in our
■old resolution of 1920, In fact I have been striv-
ing all these years to prepare the country for all
these things. We should have been able to do all
of them and to bring about a new social order by
•now, if only we had observed the conditions. And
if we did not observe the conditions and were not
ready, none but we were to blame.
“ But you are free to organise mass civil dis-
obedience if you like, though you will then be
guilty of indiscipline. But as I said to Subhas
Babu who put me the same question, I shall
gladly congratulate you if 37’ou succeed, but you
cannot have my blessings. Of course, the
honourable course for you would be to leave the
Congress.
“But you know that you cannot organise mass
disobedience at the present stage without vio-
lence. For similar reasons I am asking students
not to leave colleges to join satyagraha, unless
they will leave them for good. Similarly about
strikes. Dr. Suresh Bannerji, who was once a co-
worker but who has for some 3 ^ears strayed away
from me but seems now to be coming back,
said to me some time ago that only I could
conduct a labour strike to a successful conclusion.
I can do all these things if I had your full
cooperation and complete discipline.”
The Effect
As regards the immediate effect Gandhiji said:
“When we come to our own, the Government
will be in charge not only of the Congressmen but
of non-Congressmen. There will be adult suffrage,
and the Government will be formed by the elected
representatives of all the adult voters — Hindus,
Muslims, Parsis, Christians, Jews, and those whom
we foolishly have regarded as untouchables. What
a mixed Parliament of these representatives will
do I do not know. But I hope that the Congress
vote will always be in favour of non-violence. If
it is in a minority, it will record its vote; if it is
in a majority, it will administer the State non-
violently. For the Congress as Congress can do
nothing else. Supposing the Government accepts our
demand tomorrow and says: ‘Do what you like
in future, but now please do help us with men
and money. ’ I am afraid even then we shall have
to say to them: “We are sorry we cannot give
the co-operation. We wish you well, and may God
help you. But committed as we are to the policy
of non-violence, nothing that you can offer can
persuade us to give you violent assistance. *
In the interval between now and Gandhiji’s
return from a visit to the Viceroy, what is to be
done? Gandhiji said: ‘T am going to see the
Viceroy, but I may fail in my mission. I have
never approached a mission in despair. I have
approached it with the consciousness that I may
be faced with a blind wall. But I have often
penetrated blind walls. But if I fail, we shall be
free to assert our right to carry on anti-war pro-
paganda and take the consequences. You are of
course free to carry on the propaganda from now,
but it will not be fair, it will not be restraint.
I would therefore ask you to be patient until
my return from the Viceroy. ”
Since this was written, the Working Committee
passed the following resolution which leaves no
manner of doubt about the Congressmen’s duty
during the interval:
294
HARIJAN
[ September 22, 1940
“ In view of the resolution just passed by the
A. I. C. C., the Working Committee calls upon all
Congress organisations to stop all civil disobedi-
ence, individual or other, pending definite
instructions of Gandhiji. He regards this suspension
as indispensable for his pending interview with
H. E. the Viceroy, and as a test of the discipline
of registered and unregistered Congressmen and all
Congress-minded men and women, and also as a
short course of obedience to law before recourse
to civil 'disobedience should become necessary/’
The Hindu-Muslim Question
In his closing speech Gandhiji referred to the
Hindu-Muslim question, as it had been raised
during the debate. He said : “ If a conflict is
there in store for us, who can prevent it ? We
have to be prepared even for anarchy and chaos,
but we must have the faith that non-violence
cannot result in chaos. But if somehow disorders
take place, they will be a test of our non-violence.
Non-violence is a force that gains in intensity
with the increase in the violence that it has to
deal with. I hope that you will get that power
of non-violence before I die. But there is a
message I^should like to reach the ears of every
Mussalman. India cannot win Independence if
eight or more crores of Mussulmans arc opposed
to it. But I cannot believe that all of them are
so opposed, until it is proved to me by the vote
of every adult Mussalman. Let them declare that
they want to have their political salvation apart
from that of the Hindus. India is a poor country
full of Hindus and Mussulmans and others staying
in every corner of it. To divide it into two is
worse than anarchy. It is vivisection which cannot
be tolerated — not because I am a Hindu, for I am
speaking from this platform as representative of
Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and all else. But I will
say to them, ‘Vivisect me before you vivisect
India. You shall not do what even the Moghuls,
who ruled over India for over two centuries, did
not do. ’ What I have said about the Muslims
applies equally to Sikhs. If 30 lakhs of Sikhs will
obstruct Indian Independence, we shall deal with
them non-violently. Non-violent Swaraj cannot be
won except by non-violence. There arc other
obstacles too imposed by the existence of an alien
power. But we must strain every nerve to achieve
communal peace. Islam means peace. That peace
cannot be confined to the Muslims. It must mean
peace for the whole world.”
Implications of the Resolution
The representative of the American Associated
Press saw Gandhiji in Bombay within twentyfour
hours of the termination of the A. I. C. C. and
said; “Hundreds of our papers have printed the
A. I. C. C. resolution, and a summary of your speeches
wired by me, and have commented on it. Four
questions emerge out of these comments, and I seek
your answers to the questions.” Gandhiji was
immersed up to the ears in work, and was actually
attending a meeting of the Working Committee
when Mr. Stimson arrived. He interrupted the
meeting and dictated his answers to the four
questions.
The first question was: “How do you desire not
to embarrass Britain with your demand to preach
anti-war propaganda in a non-violent way ? ”
Gandhiji said: “ Because non-violence is the
Congress creed which involves Congress hostility
to all war. Hence it is a vital necessity for the
Congress to dissociate itself from identifying itself
with any war. Hence my desire not to embarrass
Britain w-as necessarily limited and conditioned by
the counter necessity of preserving the Congress
existence, and therefore civil disobedience is defi-
nitely restricted to freedom of speech and action,
provided they are absolutely non-violent. There-
fore I have claimed in my speech that, if the
full import of Congress action is understood, it
must in the end help Britain and the world.”
“ Why,” wondered Mr. Stimson.
“Because in the midst of the conflagration all
round there is one powerful body pinning its faith
to uttermost non-violence. If it succeeds, then
the groaning world can heave a sigh of relief and
find a way out of these monstrous armaments.”
The second question was: “How do you
visualise the future of India in the event of a
Nazi victory ? ”
A. All I can say is — I am not dismayed by
the prospect, if my country remains true to the
cult of non-violence. But that does not mean
that I should be in any way pleased with the
prospect of a Nazi victory. What terrifies me is
that as things are going on at present defeat of
Nazism will be bought at a terrific price, viz.
superior Nazism, call it by any name you like.
Q. In view of what has happened in Malabar,
is there any hope of mass civil disobedience
being carried on non-violently ?
A. Not at present, and therefore, as you must
have noticed, in my speech I made an emphatic
declaration that so far as I was concerned there
was no prospect of my embarking on mass civil
disobedience. But if you ask me whether it is.
possible to conduct mass civil disobedience
without its resulting in violence, I would empha-
tically say ‘ yes ’. But my country is not at
present ready for mass action, and in a way
I am thankful that the unfortunate events in
Malabar have come as a warning to the country
and a pointer for me also.
Mr. Stimson’s last question was : Does your
policy mean disapproval of America’s help to
Britain in the shape of planes and munitions ?
A. Not in the slightest. For the simple reason
that America does not believe with the Indian
National Congress in non-violent action, I wish it
did. Then America’s contribution to peace and
help to Britain would be infinitely more substan-
tial than any number of planes and any amount of
material that America can supply to Britain. And
if the weekly correspondence I receive from Ame-
rica and visits from Americans who come to see
me is any index to American opinion, I expect
America to take a leaf out of the Congress book
and outrun the Congress in the race for the
estabhshment of peace on earth through universal
disarmament.
HAEIJAN
295
September 22, 1940 ]
Am I Inconsistent?
The correspondent of The Tiews Chronicle, who
interviewed Gandhiji in Bombay on the 18th, saw
him when he had already had a heavy day on the
top of a night of insufficient sleep, and when he
had heavy engagements yet to fulfil. But as he
presented a conundrum on behalf of the British
people Gandhiji gladly found time for him and
replied to his question which was as follows:
** While expressing your sympathy with the British
people in their plight, don’t you think there is an
inconsistency between your earlier decisions and
your latest decision ? ”
“ I thought,” said Gandhiji replying to the ques-
tion, “that I had clearly and sufficiently explained
my position in my speech, in anticipation of the
■charge of inconsistency. If there is any incon-
sistency, it is due in this particular instance to
changed circumstances. My sympathy is not only
the same as it had been expressed in Simla on
the declaration of war, it has become deeper
because what was imaginary has become vividly
real. In Simla almost a year ago I had expressed
my grief over what might befall Britain. Today
the dreaded thing has happened and is still going
on. By nature I am so framed that every cala-
mity moves me irrespective of the people whom
it may overtake. But my sympathy, even though
it is deeper today than a year ago, has undoubted-
ly changed in form. L was unprepared for the
recent Government declarations, and I claim that
it ib the genuineness cjf my sympathy wliicli has
made me single out the one fact which Britain can
-easily recognise and yield without any hitch in her
prosecution of war. I readily grant that there
might be some reason for not dividing the respon-
sibility for the conduct of the war with those
who are the determined opponents of British impe-
rialism and all it implies, and therefore I felt that,
if the Congress continued to abide by its policy
ot nou-embarrassment which is inherent in its
non-violence, the Ccingrcss should for the moment
abate agitation by way of direct action for inde-
pendence. But freedom of speech and correspond-
ing action is the breath of democratic life. Free-
dom of propagating non-violence as substitute for
war is the nicest relevant when indecent savagery
is being perpetrated by the warring nations of
Europe. The Congress will forfeit all its right to
be considered a non-violent organisation, if out of
false sympathy or what would be w'orse — fear of
coiisequences — 'it ceased to agitate against the in-
humanity that is being perpetrated in Europe and
which, if nor checked by somebody or some orga-
nisation, may overtake the whole world. 1 hope
this statement of C!ongress policy as I interpret
it, as its S(jle ginJe, will not only satisfy the
British public opinion, but will make it range
itself on the side of the Congress, so as to enable
the Viceroy to recognise the justice of the
Congress clamu winch is a claim not for .itself
but which is a cliiiin for freedom of speech no
matter by whom e:verci>eJ so long as it docs
not promote violence in any .shape or form.”
Bombay, JS-9-40 M. D.
Khadi Patrikas
Several Khadi Patrikas are being published these
days by the various branches of the All India
Spinners’ Association. I have not seen all of them.
But of those that I have seen the Maharashtra
Khadi Patrika alone has captured my attention.
The rest, so far as I have seen them, are not up
to much. If all the provinces will send me their
respective Khadi Patrikas, I will gladly have
them examined and send them the result. Besides
these there is too the “Gram Seva Patrika”
published on behalf of the Nalwadi (Wardha)
Karyalaya which is always well worth reading. It
is published in Marathi. Shri Vinoba is the in-
spiration behind it. As a rule, it contains at least
one article by him. In my opinion no Patrika
should be brought out for its own sake. They
should be self-supporting, notwithstanding the
fact that their readers are likely to be mostly
workers of the publishing organisation. The latter
will and must pay for the publications if they
are really needed, since they will be getting back
many times the worth of money spent on them in
the form of useful knowledge.
The August issue of the Maharashtra Khadi
Patrika is lying before me. One item out of it,
viz. “One aspect of khadi”, has already been re-
produced in these columns. The Patrika is mostly
in Hindi, partly in Marathi. Each issue is priced
as. 2; the subscription for the year being Rs. 1/4/-.
It is princed on handmade paper. It is published
from Chanda and can be had from the Khadi
Karyalaya, Wardha.
The Patrika is filled with useful knowledge
about khadi. The issue under review contains the
following articles: “The thickness of yarn and
width of cloth.” “The care of slivers.” “Some
experiments of Gandhi Ashram Raniwa.” “The
curriculum of the Vastra Vidyalaya, Mool.” “The
village service scheme of the Gandhi Seva Sangh.”
“For spinners on the Yeravda and the Kisan Char-
khas”, “Dhanush Takli”, “The arithmetic of spin-
ning,” “Organisational Notes." No student of
khadi can afford to go without this Patrika.
Sevagram, 9-9-40. M. K. G.
( Translated from Hindustani)
For Subscribers
Subscriptions for our three weeklies — Harijan
( English ), Harijanhandhii ( Gujarati ), and Harijan-
sevak ( Hindustani ) — can be paid at the following
places besides the Poona office :
(l) Navajivan Karyalaya, 130 Princess St., Bombay,
( 2 ) Navajivan Karyalaya, Kalupur, Ahmedabad, ( 3 )
Gujarat H. S. Sangh, Harijan Ashram, Sabarmati,
(4) IL S. Sangh, Kingsway, Delhi, (5) Punjab
H. S. Sangh, Lajpatrai Bhavan, Lahore. ( 6 ) A. 1. V*
I. A. Bengal P)ranch, 249D, Bow Bazar, Calcutta*
(7) Shuddha Khadi Bhandar, 132/1 Harrison Rd*
Calcutta. ( 8 ) Tamil Nad H. S. Sangh, Teppakulam^
Trichy. (9) A. I. V. L A., Maganwadi, Wardha.
(lOj Sliri Kanu Gandhi, Sevagram, Via Wardha.
Manager
296
HARIJAN
[ September 22, 194G
A. I. C. C. RESOLUTION
The follovv’ing resolution was passed by the
A. I. C. C. at Bombay on the 16th inst. :
The All India Congress Committee has given its
careful attention to the events that have taken
place since its last meeting held in Poona on July
27, 1940, and to the resolutions passed by the
Working Committee at Wardha in August last.
The Committee approves of and endorses these
resolutions.
In order to end the deadlock in India and to
promote the national cause, in co-operation with
the British people, the Working Committee, even
at the sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi’s co-operation,
made a proposal to the British Government in
their Delhi resolution of July 7th, which was sub-
sequently approved by the A. I. C. C. at Poona.
This proposal was rejected by the British Govern-
ment in a manner which left no doubt that they
had no intention to recognise India’s independence,
and would, if they could, continue to hold this
country indefinitely in bondage for British exploi-
tation. This decision of the British Government
shows that they will impose their will upon India,
and their recent policy has further shown that
they will not even tolerate free expression of
public opinion in condemnation of their associat-
ing India in the war against Germany, against the
will of a vast body of the people of India, and of
exploiting her national resources and man power
for this purpose.
The All India Congress Committee cannot sub-
mit to a policy which is a denial of India’s natu-
ral right to freedom, which suppresses the free
expression of public opinion, and which would
lead to the degradation of her people and their
continued enslavement. By following this policy
the British Government have created an intoler-
able situation, and are imposing upon the Congress
a struggle for the preservation of the honour and
the elementary rights of the people. The Congress
is pledged under Gandhiji’s leadership to non-
violence for the vindication of India’s freedom.
At this grave crisis in the movement for national
freedom, the All India Congress Committee, there-
fore, requests him to guide the Congress in the
action that should be taken. The Delhi resolution,
confirmed! by the A. I. C. C. at Poona, which
prevented him from so doing, no longer applies.
It has lapsed.
The A. 1. C. C. sympathise with the British
people as well as the peoples of all other countries
involved in the War. Congressmen cannot with-
hold their admiration for the bravery and endur-
ance shown by the British nation in the face of
danger and peril. They can have no ill-will
against them, and the spirit of satyagraha forbids
the Congress from doing anything with a view to
embarrass them. But this self-imposed restraint
cannot be taken to the extent of self-extinction.
The Congress must insist on the fullest freedom
to pursue its policy, based on non-violence„
The Congress has, however, no desire at the*
present moment to extend non-violent resistance,
should this become necessary, beyond what is
required for the preservation of the liberties of
the people.
In view of certain misapprehensions that have*
arisen in regard to the Congress policy of non-
violence, the A. I. C. C. desire to state this afresh,
and to make it clear that this policy continues,
notwithstanding anything contained in previous ^
resolutions which may have led to these misappre-
hensions. This Committee firmly believes in the
policy and practice of non-violence not only in
the struggle for Swaraj, but also, in so far as this
may be possible of application, in free India. The
Committee is convinced, and recent world events,
have demonstrated, that complete world disarma-
ment is necessary, and the establishment of a new
and juster political and economic order, if the
world is not to destroy itself and revert to barbar-
ism. A free India will, therefore, throw all her
weight in favour of world disarmament and should
herself be prepared to give a lead in this to the
world. Such lead will inevitably depend on exter-
nal factors and internal conditions, but the State
would do its utmost to give effect to this policy
of disarmament. Effective disarmament and the
establishment of world peace by the ending of
national wars, depend ultimately on the removal
of the causes of wars and national conflicts. These
causes must be rooted out by the ending of the
domination of one country over another and the
exploitation of one people or group by another.
To that end India will peacefully labour, and it
is with this objective in view that the people of
India desire to attain the status of a free and
independent nation. Such freedom will be the
prelude to the close association with other
countries within a comity of free nations for the*
peace and progress of the world.
Some Books by
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^contents" page
Seven Days in Bombay ... M. D. 289
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A. 1. C. C. Resolution ... 296-
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Khadi Patrikas . . M. K. G. 295i
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VoL. Vin, No. 33 ] POONA — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1940 [ ONE ANNA SIX PIES
I WONDER
( By M. K. Gandhi )
“For some time you seem to have made it a point
to strengthen your arguments in favour of non-violence
by frequent but invariably vague references to the Holy
Quran and the teachings of Islam. It is quite obvious
that you only seek to impress the Muslims thereby. No
doubt your right to preach your cherished doctrine is
beyond all question. Similarly, it is quite understandable
that you should pat the fifth columnist IMussalmans like
Khan Abdul GhafFar Khan and Abul Kalam Azad on the
back. But can't you realise that nothing can offend the
religious susceptibilities of a Mussulman more than to
see a non-Muslim citing the scripture for his own
purpose ? Well, the Mussulmans have had thirteen
centuries to know what the Quran teaches and to
practise what it means. The Muslims, of course, do
not need a Mahatma to interpret their own holy book.
It would be better, indeed, if you take it from the Muslims
what they have throughout the last thirteen centuries
believed to bo the tca('hings oi their religion, rather than
indulge in your own wishful interpretation. I hope you
realise full well that you as well as your Muslim satel-
lites have entirely forfeited the confidence of the Mussal-
mans. Your references to the Quran are futile except
that they cause the greatest pra\’Ocation to the Muslims.
Muslims have always shown themselves self-respecting
enougii not to allow their holy book becoming an instru-
ment in non- Muslim hands, ^’our ilattcring words about
Islam are of no avail. The hu't stands out that you are
a non-Muslim. Hence the Quran cannot be the source of
your ideas or ideals. You only turn to the Quran afterwards
in order to popularise them among the Muslims. It is
my friendly advice to you to stop fortiiwith all reference
to the Quran, lii the meantime f would ask you to read
what Abul Kalam wrote 1 before he reconcilal himself to
be tlui Quisling of Muslim India.”
This letter is from an M. A. (Aligarh ). He is
a research scholar in the Muslim University. The
letter was received some time ago. I kept it in
my file so long, for I was debating whether it
would serve the cause of unity to publish it. But
having received another from the same friend more
unbalanced than this one, I decided to publish the
foregoing in order to enable me to expostulate
with those wdio in Aligarh or outside hold views
similar to the writer's.
I have sweet memories of Aligarh. I have more
than once visited the great University, I have
still associations with it, I think I am an hono-
rary member of their club. I received the honour
the hands of the late Dr. Sir Ross Masood
when he was Vice-Chancellor of the University.
As for the holy Quran, it was my Muslim clients
and friends in South Africa who invited me to
read it. They furnished me with Islamic litera-
ture. On my return to India, Muslim friends sent
me copies of translations of the holy book. Among
the senders was Dr. Mahomed Ali himself a
translator, and the late Mr. Pickthall also a trans-
lator of the book. I was presented by the late
Hakimsaheb Ajmal Khan with Maulana Shibli^s
translation. Have I changed or have the times so
changed that it has become a crime for a non-
Muslim like me to read and even dare to put his
own interpretation upon the Quran ? Many pious
Muslims have remarked that I am a better Muslim
than most Muslims in that I act in the spirit of
the Quran and know more of the life of the
Prophet than most Muslims. Whose testimony
am I to accept — these Muslim friends’ or the
research scholar’s and of those who think like
him? I wonder.
The research scholar is right in imputing to me
the desire to read my meaning into the Quran.
Surely there is no harm in it so long as I remain
absolutely faithful to the text and approach my
task with a prayerful and open mind. My corres-
pondent should know as a scholar that an inter-
pretation of a life or a book is not necessarily
correct because it has been handed down for
generations. An error does not cease to be one
after a given number of repetitions by a given
number of men for a given number of years. The
Biblical texts arc still being corrected. And many
good Christians believe that the Christianity of
the West is a negation of Christ’s central teach-
ing. It is just possible that the research scho-
lar’s views about the qualifications required for
reading and interpreting the Quran and his
own interpretation arc wrong, and that my
being a -non-Muslim is no bar to my reading
the Quran or interpreting it. And it is not at
all impossible that my interpretation may be
found to be right. It will be an evil day if the
reading and interpreting of religious books are to
be confined only to those who wear particular
religious labels. I ask my correspondent and his
companions, as their friend, to shed what in my
opinion is their gross intolerance and give the
same credit to others for seeing truth as they
claim for themselves. No one has a monopoly of
truth. All truth represented by imperfect humans
that we are is relative. We can each act accord-
ing to our lights. God alone knows the reality.
That being so, it behoves research scholars at
least to be humble and tolerant. Fanaticism and
298
tlAHUAJS
intolerance can neither conduce to research work
nor advance the cause they represent.
Sevagram, 25-9-40
KHADI WEEK
iBy M. K. Gandhi')
It is a happy thing that the khadi week coincides
with my pending visit to H. E. the Viceroy. I
want the prayers of all who believe in the efficacy
of prayer that the result of my visit may prove
fruitful to India, the British people, and ultimately
conduce to peace between the warring nations.
I feel that though the issue raised by the
A. I. C. C. resolution seems small it has in it great
potency for the good of mankind.
‘Khadi Week’ is the name given by me to my
birthday celebration. Birth and death are twins.
I should be sorry if the annual celebration was
forgotten with my death. Therefore, I have popu-
larised the birthday celebration as Khadi Week. It
enables me to deal with the event impersonally.
I shall strain every nerve to avoid a civil dis-
obedience struggle. But it would be wrong for
Congressmen to go to sleep while an effort for
peace is being made. I hope no Congressman
thinks that because I have undertaken command
of the struggle, if it comes, the spinning and khadi
conditions are waived. Those who do not strictly
conform to these and other conditions will find them-
selves left out if civil disobedience faces us. More-
over, what will the millions do who will never
have to court any kind of suffering ? The con-
structive programme is as much for them as for
the civil resisters. Indeed if it was confined to
the latter only, the imprisonment of a few could
never deserve to be called a national struggle.
But voluntary suffering of even one person in the
name of an organisation or the nation, if backed
by their unreserved co-operation in all manner
prescribed by the commander, must ensure success.
Khadi and spinning are the visible symbols that
all can show. I would therefore expect a pheno-
menal rise in khadi sales, spinning and village
handicrafts during the celebration week. I may
also mention that the A. 1. S. A. having given up
the policy of taking loans, it has become neces-
sary to receive donations, if the work is not to be
curtailed. The unexampled and unexpected rise
in the wages of spinners has meant an increase of
spinners. These cannot be provided for without
more capital. Fortunately workers have come
forward to collect funds for the A. I. S. A. I hope
that there will be an automatic response to the
appeal. All, whether Congressmen or others,
should liberally support the appeal. The A. I. S. A.
is a purely humanitarian economic institution.
As such it has no politics, even though it has
received its charter from the Congress. It is a
purely autonomous body. All can, therefore,
help it without any scruples. Khadi has no doubt
a political, as it has an economic and humanitarian,
significance. And viewed as a symbol of non-
violence, even its political significance in no way
detracts from its moral appeal. For genuine and
unadulterated non-violence can have no colour of
party politics. And the Congress will cease to be
a party label but will be universally acknowledged
as a national institution having no quarrel with
any party or nation.
Sevagram, 23-9-40
AN AMERICAN’S QUESTIONS
An American journalist had important questions
to ask arising from the latest decision of the
A. I. C. C. in Bombay — questions not merely
political, but dealing with international relations
and commercial and social intercourse.
“What is India’s contribution towards making
the world safe from Hitlerism?” was his first
question. The reply was, perhaps as he had ex-
pected, short and sweet: “If the Congress succeeds
in its non-violent effort, Hitlerism and all such
isms will go as a matter of course.”
“Don’t you think,” he next asked, “ India should
do something to make facts better known in
America and thus promote the interchange of
goods and ideas? What do you think should be
done in this connection?”
“First let us take up goods. America has had
her bit, irrespective of Indian conditions and India’s
wishes. So far as ideas are concerned, my unhappy
experience is that anti-Indian propaganda carried
on in America has held undisputed sway, so much
so that even the visit of an outstanding personality
like Tagore produced little impression on the
American mind.”
“But why does not India endeavour to make
herself better known in America?”
“ If America really wanted to know what Indian
opinion is at a given time, there is ample litera-
ture which is growing from day to day to which
they have access If you have in mind an Indian
agency which should do propagandist work on
behalf of India, again our bitter experience has
been that imperialist propaganda that is carried
on with much ability and perseverance and at a
lavish expenditure is such that we can never
overtake it, and the work of any such agency has
up to now proved fruitless. ”
His next question was rather strange: “Why
not have Indian people use Indian handspun cloth
and keep her mills busy for the export of manu-
factured cloth and yarn? Don’t you think that
this would help the cotton-grower ?” He evidently
was thinking of a free India.
“ I would not mind such a thing, ” said Gandhiji,
“ but it must be in order to supply the felt needs
of the country which received our cloth. I have
no idea of exploiting other countries for the
benefit of India. We are suffering from the poison-
ous disease of exploitation ourselves, and I would
not like my country to be guilty of any such
thing. If Japan, say, as a free country wanted
India’s help, and said we could produce certain
goods cheaper, and we might export them to
Japan, we would gladly do so. But under my
scheme of things all dumping of goods by one
country in another, supported by her army and
her navy, has to cease.”
September 29, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
299
“ Apart from export of merchandise what has
India to give America, and in turn what does
India expect from America?”
“ I must correct your question for you. India
sends no merchandise to America, she sends only
raw material, and that is a matter for serious
consideration for every nationalist. For we cannot
suffer our country remaining an exporter of raw
produce, for it means ( as it has meant ) extinction
of handicrafts and art itself. I would expect
America to treat India not as though India was a
country for American exploitation but as if India
was a frfie country, although unarmed, and deserv-
ing, therefore, the same treatment that America
would wish at the hands of India.”
“ You are repeating, Sir, the message of Jesus, ”
said the correspondent.
“I agree,” said Gandhiji. “We are poor in
technical skill, but as soon as you accept and con-
sent to follow Jesus teaching I would not have
to complain of all the skill being monopolised
by America. You will then say, ‘Here is a sister
country poor in technical skill, let us offer our
skilled assistance not for exploitation, not for a
terrific price, but for its benefit, and so for
nothing.’ And here let me say a word about
your missionaries. You send them here for nothing,
but that also is part of imperialist exploitation.
For they would like to make us like you, better
buyers of your goods, and unable to do without
your cars and luxuries. So the Christianity that
you send us is adulterated. If you established
your schools, colleges and hospitals without the
object of adding to the number of the so-called
Christian population, your philanthropy would
be untainted.
“As regards technical skill, I cannot afford to
do what the Tatas arc doing. They can afford
to bring an American expert manager at Rs. 20^000
a month. But whilst they represent the spirit of
adventure, they do not represent poor India. India
has seven lakhs of villages which take in 90 per cent
of her population. America has to think of these.
America ought, if she will be of real help, to
exercise her resourcefulness in this direction. And
for that purpose America will have to cease to
be the premier exporting country that she is. My
views on national planning differ from the pre-
vailing ones. I do not want it along industrial
lines. I want to prevent our villages from catch-
ing the infection of industrialisation. American
exploitation has added neither to the moral height
of the exploited countries nor of the exploiting
country. On the contrary it has impeded their
march towards spiritual progress, and deadened
America’s real spirit of philanthropy. A pheno-
menon like the one that America witnessed can-
not happen in India. I mean the destruction of
tons of sugar and other agricultural products. You
might have supplied other countries the sugar and
the wheat or fed America’s own unemployed.
“But,” said the correspondent, laughing, “you
could not have taken our pigs ! ”
“ I know. But all do not think like me. Pandit
Nehru wants industrialisation because he thinks
that, if it is socialised, it would be free from the
evils of capitalism. My own view is that the
evils are inherent in industrialism, and no amount
of socialisation can eradicate them.”
“ We have seen what Germany has done to
Belgium and to the other countries. You would
still say ‘ non-violence ’ ? And yet you ask the
Congress to fight because it is in danger of
extinction. England also is in such danger and
therefore fights.”
“ Don’t you see the obvious difference ? England
would have to out-Hitler Hitler in defeating him.
We do not want to use any of the weapons used
by those who would crush us. I would say to an
aggressor : ‘ You may destroy my churches, my
hearths and my homes, everything but my soul. I
won’t come to your country to destroy your
churches, hearths and homes. I will not defend
my country with your weapons. I will simply
refuse to co-operate with you, refuse to owe any
allegiance to you, in a word I will say ‘ no ’ to
you.’ He may take possession of India, but if I
have my way, he will not impress a single Indian
in his service.
“Then you must see another distinction. If we
were fighting Government with Government’s
weapons, it would be the best chance for us to
surprise the enemy and making their difficulty
our opportunity. But we have been for over a
year laying the utmost stress on non-embarrass-
ment. It ought not to be turned against us. But
we shall not use Britain’s weapons, and that is
how we shall help Britain against her will. I can
understand the Viceroy’s reluctance to surrender
the reins of Government to us while he has to
fight Germany; but I cannot understand the
Government’s desire to suppress the non-violent
spirit of the nation.”
“But you again speak like Christ on earth, and
they cannot understand that language,” said the
correspondent.
“I must persist at the peril of my life. In my
opinion non-violence is not an individual virtue,
but a course of spiritual and political conduct
both for the individual and the community.
Sevagram, 23-9-40 M. D,
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300
HAEIJAN
[ Septembee 29, 1940
MORE ABOUT THE RESOLUTION
For the Masses
In my hurried notes last week on the A, L
C. C. resolution there were certain points that
I omitted and would like to take up this week.
What had pained Gandhiji most about the Delhi
resolution and the Poona resolution was not only
that we would contradict ourselves by paying non-
violence as the price of independence, when we had
had all along been declaring that we would win
independence by non-violence ; worse than that
contradiction was the fact that the resolutions, if
acted upon, would have been a sad betrayal of the
masses whom for twenty years we had made non-
violence-minded and whom we would now make
war-minded. It is for the sake of them, he ex-
plained in his Hindi speech, that he welcomed the
Bombay resolution. “For,” said he, “the Congress
strength is derived not from the members on the
Congress registers but from the millions who have
never entered the Congress but who feel that the
Congress represents them. It is that character
that makes the Congress speak for the Hindus,
Muslims, Parsis, Christians, Jews and all. Through-
out its history of over fifty years it has had not
only Hindu presidents but Muslim and Parsi pre-
sidents, who made no distinction between diflFerent
communities, and who proved that those who
rendered the highest service to the nation and
who desired its freedom could take charge of it.
The Congress had been described by some of its
critics as a fascist organisation. But if they admit
that the Congress has no other weapon but non-
violence, they disprove their charge. For Fascism,
Nazism and Imperialism depend for their existence
on violence. The Congress could not hold together
without non-violence. Non-violence and satyagraha,
its active principle, constitute the sovereign
remedy which could be applied by all the minori-
ties in the country, and which was for even the
smallest minority a sure safeguard against the
tyranny of the majority however big it might be.
Non-violence was thus bound up with the very
existence of the Congress, and to give it up would
be to betray it and the masses for whom it stood.”
A visitor recently asked Gandhiji if his re-entry
meant that the Congress had become again non-
violent at heart. “ So far as I can say from things
in the Punjab,” said the visitor, ‘T think that,
.though there is a good deal of self-restraint, there
is little non-violence.”
Gandhiji replied: “I agree. The resolution is the
result of several days’ full-fledged debate among
the members of the Working Committee. I may
confess that many of the members have no inde-
pendent faith in non-violence but they are trying
to imbibe it. But you must know that the
Congress is not merely the Working Committee,
nor the A. I. C. C., nor the members on the
Congress registers, but the dumb millions. They
arc all peace-loving, and we have to represent
them truly. These millions, before the Congress
identified itself with them in 1919, had taken no
part in any violent or non-violent or even a so-
called constitutional fight. But they rose like one
man on the 6th of April 1919. They took up
peaceful rebellion as their mantra, and without
any organisation, without any country-wide tour —
for I had not then toured in the interior — they
instinctively took up the call, and the Congress
organisation became a peaceful rebel organisation.
The Bombay resolution had these masses in mind.”
No Threat
It is surprising that a paper should have accus-
ed Gandhiji of an intention to go to the Viceroy
with the threat of civil disobedience. The very
same paper published copious extracts from
Gandhiji’s speech from which the following arc
enough to prove that there was no such intention:
“There is one thing which is not mentioned in the
resolution. In giving me the authority that the Working
Committee has done, there is a reservation. I do not want
to hurl civil disobedience or anything in the face of the
Government without making my meaning clear, the
meaning I attach to the sum total of Government
actions — actions beginning with the declaration of the
Viceroy, then the statement of the Secretary of State
for India, and then the series of actions and the policy
that the Government have pursued since.
^ The sum total of all these things has left an indelible
impression on my mind that there is something wrong,
some injustice, being perpetrated against the whole nation,
and that the voice of freedom is about to be stifled. It
is there in the resolution, not in the exact language which
I am using now, but you will see the meaning clear as
daylight. In order completely to clarify our position, I
propose to approach the Viceroy with a request that
he will be good enough to see me, and I have no doubt
that he will. I will place my difficulties before him; I
will place the Congress difficulties before him. I will
approach him in your name. I will tell him that
this is the position to which we have been reduced:
We do not want to embarrass you and deflect
you from your purpose in regard to war effort.
We go our way, and you go yours, undeterred,
the common ground being non-violence. Left free to
ourselves, there will be no war effort on the part of our
people. If, on the other hand, without your using any
but moral pressure you find that they respond, then we
cannot help it. If you get assistance from the Princes,
from the Zamindars, from anybody high or low, you
can have it; but let our voice also be heard. If you
do so, it will be eminently honourable, it will certainly
be a feather in your cap. It will be honourable of you,
although you are engaged in a life and death struggle,
that you have given us this liberty. It will be honour-
able of you that you take this great step although you
have limitless powers to choke our voice, and give us
the fullest possible freedom, consistently with the obser-
vance of non-violence, to tell the people of India not
to join the war.”
The Demand
W'hilc some have regarded the Congress demand
as too difl&cult to be accepted, some have regarded
it as too trifling, A talk that Gandhiji had with
an ashram youngster may be summarised for the
benefit of both. “ If,” asked the youngster, “ the
Congress demand is complete, it means that we
Septembee 29, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
301
do not need Swaraj, and that we shall be content
with the liberty of speech and the press.”
“ Our objective is Complete Independence, as you
know. But do you know the means to attain it ?”
“ Carrying out the constructive programme.”
“ That is one of the principal branches of the
tree. But what is the root ? ”
“ Truth and non-violence.”
“ Well, then, we want the right to preach truth
and non-violence.”
“ But will newspaper articles and speeches be
enough for the propagation of truth and non-
violence ? ”
“No, we have to do much more. But the right
to preach truth and non-violence is threatened.
The law seems to say that we may not tell people
that they have every right not to co-operate in
the war effort, and that it is their duty as a
non-violent people not to co-operate thus. ”
“ But you have yourself said that we can get
Swaraj if we fulfil the constructive programme.
Why then this trivial issue ? ”
“ It is not a trivial issue, it is a concrete and
all-important issue. If we surrender it, a time will
come when we may have to surrender all, when
we may have to forget even the name of truth
and non-violence. To preach these is our birthright,
and to forfeit it is to forfeit our existence. ”
“But what I am troubled about is the emphasis
on mere speech and writing. ”
“ It is the liberty we claim. How and when
to use it and whether to use it or no is our con-
cern. If we cannot stand a strong breeze, we
shut the windbws and even doors. But how
should we feel if someone were to shut us up ?”
“ I see. But may it not be imaginary ? If you
ask a little child not to eat earth, it will eat it.
It is the inhibition that is galling. Do you want
to remove the inhibition ? ”
“The analogy is wrong, for the little child has
no right to cat earth, whereas no one has a right
to prevent us from enjoying free air. But let me
take another example for you, as you are a child.
Prahlad was ordered by his father not to take the
name of Rama ( God ). He might have argued
with himself, ‘ I lose nothing by not repeating the
name of Rama, for Rama is in my heart.’ But if
he had resorted to this argument, he would have
deceived himself. He did not do so, and he defied
his father to do his worst, he was not going to
give up repeating Ramanam- And because he
braved the most fearful hardships and dared even
death for that sacred right, wc have today a
living faith in Rarnanam. If he had yielded, that
faith would have vanished from the earth. Even
so, if wc give up our right to preach truth and
non-violence, we give it up for ever.”
“ But abstract truth and non-violence no one
prevents us irom preaching.”
“No principle exists in the abstract. Without
its concrete application it has no meaning. And
when I wanr to i>reach non-violence I want to
preach it as an etlhcrive substitute for war, and
thereby to be able to wean Britain and other
warring countries from viijlence and barbarism.”
Why foir All ?
“ But,” someone argued, “ why do you claim
that right for all? In your speech you said that
you would speak as a conscientious objector, but
that others might use any reasoning they liked
e, g. the financial or the imperialistic argument.”
“I have no business to claim the right only for
myself and for those who are conscientious objec-
tors. For some other grounds may be as important
as, if not more than, conscientious grounds; and
if I may not be smothered, how can I suffer
those others to be smothered? If, moreover, the
liberty was restricted to conscientious objectors,
we should compel a number of our people to be
hypocrites, for they would take shelter under the
conscientious argument. All that is necessary is
the acceptance by all of the condition of non-
violence. That cannot be relaxed.”
A ' Columbus *
Twice during the past few days Gandhi ji likened
himself to Columbus- — first after the last Wardha
meeting of the Working Committee, and then in
his speech at the close of the A. I. C. C. pro-
ceedings. On this second occasion he went into
some detail in giving the comparison ; “ I do not
ask you to appoint me your captain as a favour.
I would entreat you to do a number of other
things, but I do not entreat you to make me your
captain. If you with eyes open and your minds
clear feel that you should make me your captain,
you may do so, not otherwise. For unless I have
your minds and hearts with me, we cannot reach
the promised land. I am in the same predica-
ment as Columbus when he started on his voyage
to discover India. Perhaps I am in a worse plight
in that I have no chart and no compass which
Columbus had. I therefore ask for your implicit
obedience and discipline as the ship’s officers
and crew. We have to be an army in action
tomorrow, and unless you give unflinching disci-
pline, we shall be , no where. A ship’s captain
never brooks indiscipline, and may even relieve
the ship of the insubordinate crew.”
It would be interesting for a moment to see the
points of similarity and dissimilarity in the com-
parison. Columbus before he started on his voyage
made himself admiral and assumed full powers as
Gandhiji has done. His journey was perilous, and
though he had a chart and compass, the journey
was over uncharted seas. But the comparison ends
there. The bulk of his 88 crews were criminals
and vagabonds who had been given the choice
between and this perilous voyage.
They were so indisciplined and wrong-headed
that they did threaten to mutiny and even to push
Columbus overboard some dark night. To control
these men Columbus had to have recourse to
deception, threats, promises ! The very nature of
our struggle makes these conditions impossible,
and Gandhiji has promised in advance to make
room for a better captain in case he fails, or even
without, if people do not want him.
Sevagram, 23-9-40
M. D.
302
HARIJAN
[ September 29, 1940
Sept. 29
1940
SOME CRITICISM ANSWERED
C By M. K. Gandhi )
The recent resolution of the A. I. C. C. and
my speeches before the meeting have come in for
much criticism, if they have earned some praise.
Of the criticism there arc two items v;hich I must
attempt to answer. For they are of permanent
interest. The Times of India of the 17th inst. in
its temperate criticism takes me to task for my
statement that ‘ the peoples of Europe do not
know what they are fighting for.’ It was bound
to be resented. But truth, though seemingly
harsh, has to be uttered when utterance becomes
relevant, indeed imperative. I believe that the
utterance had become overdue. I must say why I
think that the warring nations do not know what
they are fighting for. I had used the expression
* warring nations ’, not ‘ peoples of Europe ’. This
is not a distinction without a .di®etence. I have
distinguished between the nations and their leaders.
The leaders of course know what they are fighting
for. I make no admission that they are right.
But neither the English nor the Germans nor the
Italians know what they arc fighting for except
that they trust their leaders and therefore follow
them. I submit that this is not enough when the
stake is so bloody and staggering as during the
.present war. It is perhaps common cause that
Germans and Italians do not know why English
children should be slaughtered in cold blood and
beautiful English homes should be destroyed. But
The Times" claim probably is that the British peopZe
know what they are fighting for. When I asked
the British soldiers in South Africa during the
Boer War they could not tell me what they were
fighting for. ‘ Theirs was ’ surely not to reason
why’. They did not even know where they were
being marched to. The British people would not
be able to give me a more satisfying answer, if I
happened to be in London and asked them why
their soldiers were working havoc in Berlin. If
the press accounts are to be relied upon, British
skill and valour have wrought more havoc in
Berlin than have the Germans in London. What
wrong have the German people done to the
British people ? Their leaders have. Hang them
by all means, but why destroy German homes and
German civilian life ? What difference does it make
to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether
the mad destruction is wrought under the name of
totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or demo-
cracy ? I assert in all humility, but with all the
strength at my command, that liberty and demo-
cracy become unholy when their hands are dyed
red with innocent blood. I hear the living Christ
saying; “These so-called children of mine know not
what they are doing. They take my Father’s name
in vain, for they disobey the central command
of my Father !” If my ears do not deceive, I have
erred in good company, if I have erred at all.
And why have I uttered the truth ? Because I
am confident that God has made me the instru-
ment of showing the better way. If Britain seeks
justice, she must appear before the imperial court
of God with clean hands. She will not defend
liberty and democracy by following totalitarian
methods so far as war is concerned. She will not
be able to retrace her steps after out-Hitlering
Hitler in war. The last war is a resounding lesson.
Her victory, if attained, will be a snare and a
delusion. I know mine is a voice in the wilderness.
But it will some day ring true. If liberty and
democracy are to be truly saved, they will only
be by non-violent resistance no less brave, no less
glorious, than violent resistance. And it will be
infinitely braver and more glorious because it will
give life without taking any.
Now I come to The Statesmans article of 18th
September. I am sorry to say it is intemperate
and written in anger. It is full of palpable
mistakes (to use a mild word), no doubt uncon-
scious. But I am not concerned with the intem-
perance of language. In the fierce heat of
battle unknown before, the wonder is that the
intemperance one sees sometimes is not much
greater than it is.
Here is the cream of the heavy indictment:
“ We have often expressed our view about the
fundamental immorality and contradictory character of
the doctrine. Non-cooperation is a meth^ of war and
not of peace.— It carries with it a pretentious claim to
spiritual value which involves sanctimonious insincerities
and mass hypocrisy masking intensified hatreds
A nation which accepted this doctrine would doom
itself to slavery.*'
This is all contrary to the history of our own
times in India. I claim that there is nothing
immoral in non-violent non-cooperation. Violent
resistance is itself non-cooperation, and it is
immoral because of its violence. It becomes moral
when it is non-violent. Non-cooperation with
evil is a sacred duty. It is essentially spiritual
because of its non-violent character. The adjectives
used by the writer would be deserved if it was
non-violent in name only. For the present argu-
ment I must take the genuine article. Now for
the facts. Non-violent non-cooperation, however
imperfect it was, has redeemed India at least
somewhat from the slavery under which she was
groaning. It has raised India from the slough of
despond, and has brought her prestige which
nothing else could have. I make bold to say that, if
the non-violence offered had been not adulterated,
its effect would have been still more visible. My
greatest claim, however, is that it is this despised
non-violent resistance which hitherto saved India
from anarchy and red ruin. It is not yet entirely
saved. If it is to be saved, it will only be by the
non-violent method. I invite The Statesman
writer to test the truth of my statement. He
will have many infallible proofs in its support.
A dispassionate study will enable him to serve
both Britain and India.
On the way to Simla, 25-9-40
September 29, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
303
GANDHIJI’S SPEECH
AT THE A. I. C. C.
[Here is. the full text of Gandhiji’s English
•speech at the A. I. C. C. meeting in Bombay on
15th September. It is revised by Gandhiji and is
thus an authorised version. M. D. ]
I know that you have listened to me with the
■greatest patience, I am specially grateful to you to-
day, for the simple reason that I have said many
things which may have displeased you. But it
was never my intention to displease those whom
I want to harness for the great work that lies
before you and before me. I have to speak to
you at length because I have to shoulder this
burden. I have not come with a prepared speech
■at all. The thoughts will come as I proceed.
Let me begin with a thought which has been
weighing with me for a considerable time. When
■the war broke out and I went to Simla to see
the Viceroy I issued a statement the next day, not
in a representative but in my individual capacity.
A friend has now reminded me how good it would
bave been if I had simply hung on to that state-
ment although I could not take the Congress with
me ; and on the eve of my shouldering this respon-
sibility, he prayed that I should be guided by
'God to take up that original position and retire.
I have very great regard for him. I have not for-
Jotten that statement, nor have I any regret or
apology to offer. If such a thing occurs — and
history often repeats itself — and I happen to
go to another Viceroy, I should make the same
statement.
Although I spoke only for myself, deep down
in me there was the Congressman speaking. The
Viceroy also did not send for me because I was
M. K. Gandhi. M. K. Gandhi has absolutely no
.place in his books. The man who wields the
•sceptre can have no room for individuals. He
sent for me because he thought I would represent
.the Congress view and I would be able to carry
* conviction to Congressmen.
I withdrew from that position, not as an indi-
vidual but as a Congressman, and because I failed
to carry conviction even to a single Congressman.
Happily you have got on the Working Com-
mittee men with sterling honesty who had
the courage to tell me that, although it was
my statement, they did not feel like accepting it.
They added that they had had bitter experience
behind them, and that therefore they would not
be able to take that position. Thus you had the
resolution that was passed by the Congress imme-
• diately after the war. And I agreed with the
resolution as a representative, although I said to
them that, if I could carry conviction, my original
position was the best possible one to take up. If
I had pressed the members of the Working Com-
mittee to accept my position, they would have
done so, but it would have been only mechanical.
The statement was not made to deceive the Vice-
roy or, for the matter of that, a single soul. It
.came straight from the heart. It was not a
theatrical display. It was the opening up of the
secret recesses of the heart before the world, the
Viceroy and the Congress. If these words of mine
could not find an echo in their hearts, they would
have been of no use whatsoever to the Viceroy,
to the great English nation or to India. That still
remains my sentiment. If I could not convince
the Congress of my attitude, it would not carry
us further. It would have been a wrong step to
take, and hence it was not taken. With that
background I approach this resolution.
I have made repeated statements that I would
not be guilty of embarrassing the British people
or the British Government when their very exist-
ence hung in the balance, that I would not be
true to my satyagraha, would not be true to non-
violence, would not be true to the truth which I
hold dear if I did so, and therefore could not do
so. That very man now stands before you to
shoulder the burden of satyagraha. Why ? There
comes a time when a man in his weakness mis-
takes vice for virtue; and virtue itself, when taken
away from its context and from the purpose for
which it was dedicated, becomes vice. I felt that,
if I did not go to the assistance of the Congress
and take the helm even if it be in fear and
trembling, I would be untrue to myself.
I feel that in taking the step that we are doing
we are rendering a great service not only to
the Congress but to the whole of India. And we
are rendering a service not only to the whole
of India. History will record — and Englishmen
will be able to grasp this statement some
day — that we rendered help to the English
nation, and they will find that we were true to
our salt and had the same bravey and fearlessness
of which the Englishman is proud and for which
he is renowned. I, who claim to be a fast friend
of the British people, will be guilty of unfriendly
conduct if, under a false sense of modesty, or
because people may think otherwise about me, or
because Englishmen themselves will be angry with
me, I do not issue a warning that the virtue of
self-restraint now becomes vice, because it will
kill the Congress organisation, and it will kill the
very spirit which is exercising thjs restraint.
When I say this, I am speaking not only for
the Congress, but for all who stand for national
freedom — Muslims, Parsis, Christians and even
those who are against the Congress, , so long as
they represent the aspiration of India, namely,
unadulterated independence. I should be untrue to
all of them, if at this time I said, ‘ no embarrass-
ment to the British’. I must not repeat parrot-
like ‘no embarrassment’. Then that repetition
would be just 'as useful for my salvation or for
the guarding of my virtue as the repetition by a
parrot of God’s name which cannot bring him
salvation, because it is only a mechanical and
vocal effort without any intelligence behind it.
Therefore, if I exercise that suppression at this
critical moment in the history of the nation, it
would be useless. I should be perfectly untrue
to myself if I hid myself in Sevagram and said.
“No, I have told you, ‘ no embarrassment’.”
304
HAEIJAN
[ September 29, 1940
The language of this resolution is in the main
mine. It appealed to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
I used to be the Congress draftsman. Now he
has taken my place. He saw it was inevitable, if
we were to be true to non-violent resistance to
the extent to which we wanted to go. The
Working Committee has accepted this phraseology
deliberately, well knowing its implications. The
result is this: If we can get a declaration from
the British Government that the Congress can
carry on anti-war propaganda, and preach non-
cooperation with the Government in their war
effort, we will not have civil disobedience.
I do not want England to be defeated or
humiliated. It hurts me to find St. Paul’s Cathe-
dral damaged. It hurts me as much as I would
be hurt if I heard that the Kashi Vishvanath
temple or the Juma Masjid was damaged. I would
like to defend both the Kashi Vishvanath temple
and the Juma Masjid and even St. Paul’s with my
life, but would not take a single life for their
defence. That is my fundamental difference with
the British people. My sympathy is there with
them nevertheless. Let there be no mistake on
the part of Englishmen, Congressmen, or others
whom my voice reaches, as to where my sympathy
lies. It is not because I love the British nation
and hate the German. I do not think that the
Germans as a nation are any worse than the
English or the Italians are any worse. We are all
tarred with the same brush; we are all members
of the vast human family. I decline to draw any
distinctions. I cannot claim any superiority for
Indians. We have the same virtues and the same
vices. Humanity is not divided into water-tight
compartments so that we cannot go from one to
another. They may occupy one thousand rooms,
but they are all related to one another. I would
not say, ‘ India should be all in all, let the whole
world perish,’ That is not my message. India should
be all in all, consistently with the well-being of
other nations of the world. I can keep India intact
and its freedom also intact only if I have good-
will towards the whole of the human family and
not merely for the human family which inhabits
this little spot of the earth called India. It is big
enough compared to other smaller nations, but
what is India in the wide world or in the universe ?
Let there be no mistake as to what I am about.
I want my individuality to remain unimpaired. If
I lose it, I would be of no service to India, much
less to the British people, still less to humanity.
My individual liberty is the same as the nation’s,
convertible with national liberty. I do not claim
any greater liberty for myself. Hence my liberty
is equal to the liberty of all of you and no greater.
I feel that, if my liberty is at stake, yours is also
at stake. I claim the liberty of going through the
streets of Bombay and say that I shall have nothing
to do with this war, because I do not believe in
this war and in" this fratricide that is going on in
Europe. I admire the bravery. But what is the
use of this bravery ? I deplore the foolishness and
the crass ignorance. These people do not know
what they are fighting for. That is how I look
at this war that is going on across the seas. I
cannot possibly take part in it. Nor do I want
the Congress to do so.
The part that I would like to take- is the part
of peace-maker. If the British people in their
wisdom had recognised the independence not of’
the Congress but of all India, and if other parties
in India had also co-operated with us, we would
have taken the honourable place of peace-makers
between these nations. Such is my ambition. But
today I know that it is a day-dream. But some-
times a man lives in his day-dreams. I live in
mine, and picture the world as full of good human
beings — not goody goody human beings. In the
Socialist’s language, there will be a new structure
of society, a new order of things. I am also
aspiring after a new order of things that will
astonish the world. If you try to dream these
day-dreams, you will also feel exalted as I do.
And now I come to our ‘tin-pot’ Congress —
tin-pot in the estimation of others, not my own.
If we do not take care, the Congress will dis-
appear, and if the Congress disappears, the
national spirit disappears. One after another Con-
gressmen are being selected and jailed. It is not
satyagraha to watch people being taken away. It
is much better for all of us to rush into the jg^ws-
of the opponent. After all, as the Maulana Saheb'
once said, India is a vast prison. Let us get out
of this slave-prison by breaking the prison bars.
He said to the Sikhs at the time of the Nankana
Saheb tragedy: “You may protect one gurdwara;
but what about the vast gurdwara that is India ?'
We have to deliver it from bondage.” Those words
ring true even today in my ears. If this liberty of*
the nation or the movement for freedom is likely
to be choked, then I say that the virtue of self-
restraint is going to become a vice. That virtue
of restraint cannot be carried to the extent of
the extinction of the national spirit wherever it
may reside, whether among Congressmen or non-
Congressmen.
I do not want to hurl civil disobedience or
anything in the face of the Government without
making my meaning clear, the meaning I attach
to the sum total of Government actions — actions^
beginning with the declaration of the Viceroy, the
statement of the Secretary of State for India, and
the series of actions and the policy that th6r
Government have pursued since. The sum total
of all these has left an indelible impression on my
mind that there is something wrong, some injustice. 1 ,
being perpetrated against the whole nation, and
that the voice of freedom is about to be stifled^
This is implied in the resolution, not in the exact
language which I am using now, but you will see
the meaning clear as daylight.
In order completely to clarify our position, t
propose to approach the Viceroy with a request
that he will be .good enough to see. me, and I
have no doubt that he will. I will place mydijE-
culties before him; I will place the Congress diffi-
culties*before him. I will approach him in your
name. I will tell him that this is the position to-
which we have been reduced: We do not want
Septembee 29, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
305
to embarrass you and deflect you from your pur-
pose in regard to war effort. We go our way,
.and you go yours, undeterred, the common ground
being non-violence. If we carry the people with us,
there will be no war effort on the part of our
people. If, on the other hand, without your using
any but moral pressure, you find that the people
help the war effort, we can have no cause for
grumbling. If you get assistance from the Princes,
from the zamindars, from anybody high or low,
.you can have it; but let our voice also be heard.
If you accept my proposal, it will be eminently
honourable, it will certainly be a feather in your
cap. It will be honourable of you, although you
are engaged in a life and death struggle, that you
have given us this liberty. It will be honourable
of you that you take this great step, although
you have limitless powers to choke our voice, and
that you give us the fullest possible freedom, con-
sistently with the observance of non-violence, to
tell the people of India not to join the war effort.
Let the people use any reasoning they like for
refusal to help the war effort. My reasoning is the
only one which will sit well on Congressmen’s
lips. But I do not expect all to restrict them-
selves to that reasoning Those who have conscien-
tious objection, as I have, will adopt my reasoning.
Those who are tired of British imperialism will
use that argulnent. There may be others who will
have other arguments. All these should be covered
under this freedom of speech, provided, however,
that they all accept ; non-violence, provided also
that what they say is said openly and not secretly.
These are the implications of my generalship. If
these do not satisfy you, you must reject this
resolution summarily. So long as you can preach
non-cooperation with war effort in men and money,
there should be no civil disobedience. But if you
have not that liberty, there is no Swaraj but
perpetual bondage. I would like the British people
and the Viceroy to be able to tell the world that
they have given the leaders of the Indian people
liberty to preach to their people what they like.
The British cam then say to the world: “ Judge us
by our conduct. Here in India we are playing
the game.”
I do not mind the British not responding to the
Delhi resolution. They may say, “At the present
moment you cannot interfere with the manage-
ment of affairs as they stand. Deliverance will
•come to you in its own time. At this critical
juncture do not worry us. ” I will understand that
argument. I will sympathise with it. I will hold
my hand so long as there is no fraud or falsity in
what they say. It is impossible for them to give
us freedom. If freedom has got to come, it must
be obtained by our own internal strength, by our
closing our ranks, by unity between all sections of
the community. It cannot descend from heaven,
nor can it be given as a gift from one nation - to
another. I do not know whether I am represent-
ing the feelings of the members of the Working
Committee, because I have not discussed these
things with them. But you have to take me with
all my limitations, with the workings of .my mind.
The Viceroy may say, “You are a visionary.” I
may fail in my mission, but we will not quarrel.
If he says he is helpless, I will not feel helpless.
I will make good my position. I cannot sit still
when I see Ram Manohar Lohia and Jaiprakash
Narain in jail, than whom I do not know braver
or straighter men. They have not preached
violence, but simply carried out the behests
of the Ramgarh resolution. It was a point of
honour with them.
I have restrained myself, and will restrain my-
self. I will not seek imprisonment. I do not want
to offer civil disobedience. I will not place myself
in peril. In this battle I will not expose myself to
imprisonment. But if the Government chooses, it
will not be difficult to take me away. I will not
be able to seal my lips or restrain my pen. It will
be difficult for them to keep me in prison, not
because India will rise in rebellion. India will be
wrong if it does so. My own instinct is that they
will not be able to keep me in jail.
I will place my argument before the Viceroy. I
may fail in my mission. But I have never approa-
ched a mission in despair. I may have approached
it with the consciousness that I may be faced with
a blind wall. But I have often penetrated blind
walls. I shall approach the Viceroy in the confi-
dence and hope that he will understand the great
reasonableness of the request of the Congress for
full liberty to preach ‘no war’ in India. Everyone
should have perfect liberty to preach by pen and
tongue, ‘We cannot aid imperialism, we cannot
help spoliation. ’
I shall strain every nerve to avoid satyagraha
in your name. What shape it will take, when
it comes, I do not know. But I know that there
will be no mass civil disobedience, because mass
civil disobedience is not required for this occa-
sion. I have impenetrable darkness before me
regarding the future course of action. I have
no mysteries. I do not know how I shall lead you,
what action I shall put before you. I hope that
any action that we may take will be worthy of
the Congress traditions and of the occasion.
I have often said that I do not know the
Congress mind as I have buried myself in Sevagram.
It is because of the Congress difficulty that I haye
dragged myself to Bombay, and immediately I am
released from this duty you will find me in Seva-
gram. But I have got strength and resourcefulness
enough to lead this battle, although I am buried
in Sevagram. I shall do better and clearer thinking
in Sevagram than anywhere else, simply because
I have built up there an atmosphere for my growth.
With the march of time my body must decay
but, I hope, not my wisdom. I seem to see. things
more clearly with the advance of age. It may be
self-deception, but there is no hypocrisy. Self-
deception is good sometimes in that it helps one
to remain cheerful and not to give way to despair.
It will be, therefore, wrong of you to drag me
from Sevagram; a.nd I promise that I shall give a
good account of my stewardship.
There are many parties in the Congress. We
axe not all of the same opinion. There is indis-
306 HARIJAN [ SEPTEMBER 29, 1940-.
cipline in the Congress. I know it is inevitable
in a mass organisation which is growing from day
to day. If it is all indiscipline and no discipline,
the organisation is on the downward path. Let it
not be said of you that you come to the Congress
although you do not believe in non-violence. How
can you possibly sign the Congress pledge with
violence in your breasts?! want complete obedi-
ence to the policy of non-violence. While the
policy lasts, it is the same as though it was a creed,
for so long as it holds good it is as good as a
creed. My creed holds me for life; yours so long
as you hold it. Resign from the Congress, and
you are free from it. Let us be clear regarding
the language we use and the thoughts we nurture.
For, what is language but the expression of thought?
Let your thought be accurate and truthful, and
you will hasten the advent of Swaraj even if
the whole world is against you. You will have
won Swaraj without having to spend nine million
pounds a day or without burning a single home.
If you are true to your policy, I am sure that
without doing any of these things you will
build up the majestic edifice of freedom.
“ Now for the violence party. Do not mix up
the methods if you can help it. You have res-
trained yourselves for some years. Restrain your-
selves for some more years. Ours is not a small
battle. If you restrain yourselves, you will lose
nothing.
“ Freedom of speech and pen is the foundation
of Swaraj. If the foundation-stone is in danger,
you have to exert the whole of your might in
order to defend that single stone. May God help you.
SIKHS AND THE SWORD
( By M. K. Gandhi )
The reader will find in another column copies
of correspondence between Master Tarasingh and
myself. My letter was addressed to him as a
friend, I had no wish to see it published as it
certainly compromised him, as did also his letter
to the Maulana Saheb. Master Tarasingh has
turned to me for advice on several occasions, my
relations with the Sikhs being of the friendliest
nature. I flatter myself with the belief that on
occasions I have saved the community against itself
But Master Tarasingh asked me for permission
to publish the correspondence which I readily
gave. I would still have refrained from entering
into a public discussion of it but for the fact that
my advice is being grossly distorted, and that I
have received a pressing letter from nationalist
Sikhs who do not share Master Tarasingh’s views
and who accept the Congress non-violence and its
discipline. In their letter they say:
“Your letter to Master Tarasingh is grossly misinter-
preted in the Punjab Press and especially in the Akali
circles. They say that you wrote to Master Tarasingh
that the whole Sikh Panth is a believer in violence,
hence useless and unsuitable to remain in the Congress.
We think that your letter was a personal one and
referred to Master Tarasingh or his party only. But
the Akali party has raised a storm of agitation on this
account.’*
My letter is absolutely clear. It applies only
to Master Tarasingh and those whom he repre-
sents. It can apply to the whole of the Sikh,
community only if they accept Master Tarasingh
as their undisputed leader. I knew when I ans-
wered the letter that at best he represented only-
a portion of the great community. I knew then
that there were many nationalist Sikhs who are
as much nationalist as I. My letter to Master
Tarasingh lays down general propositions of uni-
versal application, though stated in connection’
with a concrete case which was put before me*
for advice. Shorn of its concreteness it simply
means that (1) The Congress is pledged to a-
non-violent policy ; (2) Therefore no one who^
does not believe in that policy can belong to the-
Congress; (3) The Congress is a purely nationalist,
non-communal organisation ; (4) Therefore no one
with a communal bias should belong to it ;
(5) The Congress being a non-violent organisation-
and being a determined opponent of Imperialism,
anyone belonging to it will have little hearing,
from Imperialist Britain so long as the Congress,
retains its policy and is ‘at war with’ Imperialism.
Those, therefore, who misrepresent my letter in
the way they are reported to have done, cannot
harm me, but deprive themselves of the services*
and advice of one who has been -their faithful
servant for practically twenty years.
Master Tarasingh has sent me an angry letter in-
reply to mine. As it contains no new argument*
I refrain from publishing it in these columns. But
it is necessary to correct one error. In my attempt
to solve the Hindu-Muslim tangle I have been
represented as having abandoned the Congress
position as stated in its famous Lahore resolution
on the communal question. That resolution is a
sacred trust, and so far as I am concerned, when
and if the time arrives for a solution of the com-
munal problems, full eflEcct will be given to the
Lahore resolution. No non-violent solution is
possible without the association of all parties
concerned. I therefore urge Sikh friends not to
come to hasty conclusions but to judge every-
thing dispassionately. Anger is short madness*,
and it hurts those that are consciously or
unconsciously betrayed into it.
On the way to Simla, 25-9-40
Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Dasgupta
Written at Gandhiji’s request, and he hopes every
village -worker will possess a copy. 1440 pages, 18
chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages, 216 illustrations.
Price Rs, 5 cloth-bound; By V. P. P. Rs. 6. Rs. 6.
leather-bound; By V. P. P, Rs, 7. Available at
Harijan office — Poona 4.
Some Books by Gandhiji
Satyagraha in South Africa
Rs. 4
8
0
8
My Early Life
1
0
0
2
Speeches and Writings
4
0
0
9
Cent Per Cent Swadeshi
1
8
0
5
Hind Swaraj
!o
4
0
2
Self-Restraint v. Self-Indulgence
Parts I & II (each)
L
0
Q.
3.
HARIJAN
307
SlP'r'^IlBEE 29, 1940 ]
CORRESPONDENCE
Amritsar, 9ih August, 1940
Dear Maulana Sahib,
I feel that it is impossible to ignore reality of
war. Independence is synonymous with power.
Only nations that are fully organised and have a
disciplined army are able to preserve their
independence. We who are seeking to secure
independence cannot afford to neglect the opportu-
nity which the war offers of entering the army
and learning both the meaning of sacrifice, unity,
command and obedience and art of offence and
defence.
The fate of nations is in the balance. I trust
you will agree with me, as we claim to be arbiters
of our own future, that we must do all we can
to help the mobilisation of our man power and
•our resources, with one object only that, whatever
the result of war, we may be able to attain and
maintain independence.
I am, therefore, of opinion that we should not
-only do nothing to prevent recruitment but
demand that India should be in a position to
produce the modern armament in factories under
Indian control only. To leave the responsibility
■of defence to Britain is to accept continuance of
/dependence.
It is Britain’s interest, at the moment, to pre-
.pare India for her own defence. England is no
more in a position to spare any force for Indian
Defence. It is a rare opportunity for us to raise
India from a position of helplessness to a position
to be able to help herself. It is the interest to
England to defeat her enemies by raising India to
•a position which England could never have con-
templated before. It is in the interest of India to
make the most of the opportunity which circum-
stances have created.
It is ray considered opinion that, even if the
'Congress is compelled to have recourse to Civil
Disobedience to exert moral pressure on the
'Government, it should do nothing to prevent
recruitment to the army but confine its activities
to spheres which do not infringe on the morale of
■our troops or dissipate our powers of defence.
In our present preoccupation of wresting
power from Britain, wc must not close our eyes
to dangers internal and external to which our
country would be exposed if England fails in the
war. We must prepare ourselves for all contin-
gencies. No other preparation can take the place
of an Indian army, officered by Indians, ready
to meet all eventualities.
I am writing to you to make the position of
my community and my own clear. I am definitely
of opinion tliat Sikhs should join the Army in as
large a number as possible in the interest of
their Motherland and their own. They can only
then maintain their position in any Government.
1 cannot be a party to anything which is likely
to weaken the position of my community. To be
strong is the essence of independence.
In my anxiety to help the Congress and remov-
ing the last obstacle in the path of recruitment
to the army I made a conditional oiEFer to provide
a hundred thousand recruits in case a Congress-
Government agreement was reached. The chances
of an agreement appear to be far from encourag-
ing, while the world situation is worsening. I
therefore see no alternative but to support full
and free recruitment of the Sikhs to the army. I
am, therefore, inclined to give public expression
to these views, unless otherwise advised by you
and other friends.
Need I say that in all other matters you can
rely on my full co-operation and support including
Civil Disobedience?
I may add here that I have information that
indiscipline is spreading in the Sikh army. There
have been desertions and disobedience. Innocent
people are suflfering under wrong notions. Some
of the deserters from the army have reached
villages in the Punjab where they are committing
murders and dacoities and are proving a terror to
the countryside. This has alarmed us, and immediate
action has to be taken. If we start civil disobe-
dience without positively advising the army not
to participate in such disobedience, the civil dis-
obedience is apt to turn into military disobedience,
which means bloodshed and mutiny. Under these
circumstances civil disobedience will fail, and
impending anarchy will be suppressed by the
British with a strong hand, thus reversing the
course of the progress of India.
I seek your advice and that of Mahatma Gandhi ji,
at this critical juncture, to whom I am sending a
copy of this letter. I know Mahatmaji’s. views on
non-violence, but I still hope he can give me
valuable advice at this critical juncture.
Yours sincerely
( Master ) TarasingH
To Mahatma Gandhiji for information with the
request that the Mahatmaji may kindly give advice
immediately. TaraSINGH
*
:Ic
Dear Sardarji,
I am glad you have sent me a copy of your
letter to Maulana Saheb. As I have told you, in
my opinion, you have nothing in common with
the Congress nor the Congress with you. You
believe in the rule of the sword; the Congress
does not. You have all the time ‘my community’
in mind. The Congress has no community but
the whole nation. Your civil disobedience is
purely a branch of violence. I am quite clear in
my mind that being in the Congress you weaken
‘your community’ and weaken the Congress. With
your mentality, you have to offer your services to
the British Government unconditionally and look
to it for the protection of the rights of ' your
community’. You do not suppose for one moment
that the British will take your recruits on your
conditions. They would commit suicide if they
did. You have to be either fully nationalist or.
frankly communal and therefore dependent upon
the British or other foreign power.
This is the considered opion of one who loves
you and the Sikhs as he loves himself and in
reality more. For I have ceased to love myself.
Yours sincerely
Sevagram, 16-8-40 M, K, Gandhi
308
HARIJAN
[September 29, 1940*
RAJAJI’S POSTSCRIPT
My dear Gandhiji,
I had the advantage of reading the leading
article of September 22nd in manuscript at Poona
through the courtesy of Shri Chandrashanker. I
quite understand why you wrote the article, but
I wished I could stop its publication or add my
remarks to it. Reading the article in print now
I think I had better explain my position.
I do not feel that you exposed me to any ridi-
cule. I was not worried over the attacks made
at Bombay on the Poona resolution. I am not
the least bit sorry for the Poona resolution. It
expressed what we felt was the right thing to do
under the circumstances. The British Govern-
ment did not agree, and in consequence the
proposal has failed. That, however, does not
make any difference as to the validity of the
reasons that led to it. Almost the entire body
of intelligent public opinion in India welcomed
the Poona resolution. You, of course, considered it
wrong because it involved participation in war, be
it even for the defence of India. There were some
who feared that the resolution might be accepted
by the British Government and involve us in
co-operation with Britain which was distasteful
to them. There are some people for whom the
deciding consideration is success. They feel it a
disgrace to make a proposal which is turned down.
There are again some who desire the maturing of
chaos in which alone they sec hope for the future
of our country, and they would oppose anything
that would retard the progress of this fermentation
of chaos. Barring these groups the vast body of
enlightened opinion in the country enthusiastically
approved of the proposal made at Poona, namely,
that if Britain acknowledged the right of India to
the status of an independent nation and set up a
truly National Government composed of leaders
of the various groups among the present elected
legislators in the Central Assembly, the deadlock
should stand resolved. You hold the view that
the Congress should as from now work for the
abolition of war. The fulfilment of our national
goal is inextricably connected, according to you,
with that mission. You are, therefore, of opinion
that it is a grievous error to participate in the
present war effort under any conditions. I believe
also that the world should reach peace and abolish
wars as soon as possible. But the pathway to it
lies, in my opinion, in education in the highest
sense im international co-operation and not in
finding alternative weapons to defeat one another’s
ambitions and aims. Unlike you I do not feel
glad that the British rejected our offer on the
ground that it has saved us our pacifism.
I do not support the Bombay resolution because
the Poona resolution was wrong. My support is
based on the following grounds.
It is wrong for the British to declare that the
Indian people were in a state of war against any
other nation without asking them about it. War
does not mean only payment of some money and
manufacturing munitions. It can easily lead up to
all that is happening in London, and should be
dealt with on that footing. Four hundred millions
of human beings cannot be thrown into such a
condition against their own will or without asking'
them. It is possible for us to recognise the
justice of Britain’s case against Germany without
having to join in it and extend the tragedy beyond
the necessary limits. America refuses to enter the
war though it may give judgment in favour of
Britain. We have not entered the Sino-Japanese
war in spite of the justice of China’s cause.
The Poona proposal sought to make participa-
tion consistent with self-respect and fruitful. But
the proposal was rejected by the British Govern-
ment. India is, therefore, entitled to refuse to
participate in the war. But she is forced to
contribute and participate on the basis that India
is an imperial possession without any independent
status or the right to choose between war and
neutrality. The case for Britain is that the help
taken from India is voluntary. This claim can
be justified, or at least the objection can be
reduced to the minimum, if those who preach
non-participation are not suppressed by imprison-
ment. It could then be claimed that such Indian
co-operation that comes in spite of such appeals
against participation is truly voluntary. This
much should be conceded to mitigate the offence
of dragging the Indian people into the horrors ^
of a modern war without their consent.
Madras, 23-9-40 C. Rajagopalachar
[Rajaji would not be Rajaji, if he took notice
of ridicule. From his own standpoint his position
is unassailable. But it therefore does not cease to
be a denial of the last twenty years’ past of the
Congress. If the Poona gesture had received the
response it deserved, from being peace-minded
the Congress would suddenly have become war-
minded — a feat which even Rajaji would have
failed to perform. But all this is past. Nor is it
relevant to my confession and Rajaji’s postscript.
On the train to Simla, 25-9-40 M. K. G.]
Wanted Agents
For selling copies of Harijan, Harijanhandhit and
Harijansevak in various towns of India. For terms-
apply to the Manager.
CONTENTS
I WONDICR
Khadi Week
An American’s Questions
More about the Resolution...
Some Criticism Answered
Gandhiji’s Speech at the
A. I. C. C.
Sikhs and the Sword
Correspondence
Rajaji’s Postscript
PAGE
M. K. Gandhi 297 '
M. K. Gandhi 298
M. D. 298-
M. D, 300
M, K. Gandhi 302'
303
M. K, Gandhi 306 •
Tarasingh &
M. K. Gandlii 307
3QS>
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VoL. Vlir, No. 34 ] POONA — SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1940
SINDH HINDUS
{By M. K. Gandhi)
Shri Shamlal Gidwani writes a letter on the
situation in Sindh from which I quote the
following :
“ Most of us Sindh Hindus have not been able to
follow the advice you thought fit to tender regarding
non-violence. We find that this advice is in direct
conflict with the teachings of Lord Shri Krishna. We
ha\’e also been advised by you to migrate somewhere
else if we are not able to protect ourselves. This advice
again we are unable to follow for practical reasons.
You know several of the reasons, and you ha\^e
yourself mentioned some of them in your recent article
in Harijan which we all greatly appreciate. You
also know that Hindus in Sind, though only 27 per cent
of tlie population, own fifty per cent |of the land. We
are scattered all over the province, and our population
in some of the villages is between two to ten per cent.
W'e pay nearly the whole of the income-tax revenue in
the ])rovince; we contribute fifty per cent of laud
revenue and nearly the whole of the customs revenue.
If we follow your advice, we shall be not only cowards
but l)ccome landless and countryless. There is also a
danger in our migrating to other provinces, for it will
mean a public confession of the failure of a community
to protect itself merely because an aggressive commu-
nity thought fit to tyrannise over us and the protecting
arms of law and order were not made available for us.
Tliat would again be a confession of the failure of
democracy. On the other hand, what we feel is that, if
you had advised the people of Sindh — particularly the
Hindus — to train themselves in the use of arms, they
would ii£U(: been able to better protect themselves and
would luue been saved all the series of murders that
had been wantonly committed on the Hindus in recent
months.’*
At the same time that I received this letter, I
saw in the papers that five Hindus were shot dead
openly while they were pursuing their normal
business. As usual the murderers have not been
traced. Is this a plan of terrorism to drive the
Hindus out of Sindh, or is it something else?
Someone in Sindh ought to be able to answer
the question.
Shri Gidwani docs not subscribe to non-
violence. He thinks that my advice is contrary
to tlie tcachingi? of Lord Krishna. He thinks,
for ( himself ) very good reasons, that the Hindus
cannot act non-violcntly. For equally good
reasons he thinks they cannot migrate. But he
would like me to advise them to defend them-
selves by arra<. This is like asking a nature cure
[ ONE ANNA
physician to prescribe allopathic drugs. Can he
be trusted to prescribe the right drugs? And
what will my advice be worth when my own
hands are incapable of wielding arms ? Shri Gidwani
should go to a physician who knows the business
and will, on due occasion, run to the rescue and
always be ready to give the necessary training. I
have said that for those who do not believe in
non-violence armed defence is the only remedy.
But if I am asked to advise how it can be done,
I can only say, “ I do not know.”
But Shri Gidwani is trifling with the crisis when
he lazily looks up to me to guide Sindh Hindus
on impossible terms. If he sincerely believes in
the solution he has proposed, he must himself
take the training at once and lead the terrified
Hindus of Sindh along the path of armed defence.
It is wrong for the leaders of Sindh to look for
outside help. They should cease to write. They
should- seriously think out a plan of action,
violent or non-violent, and follow it up firmly
and bravely.
I venture also to suggest to the responsible
Muslims of Sindh that their reputation is at stake.
If they cannot stop those senseless murders of
innocent people, history will find them guilty.
They will never persuade anybody that they are
helpless to deal with the mischief. Such acts are
impossible without the silent sympathy of the
society to which the perpetrators of murders
belong. Simla, 28-9-40
OCCASIONAL NOTES
‘*The Most Important Convert”
When Gandhiji issued on July 2 his ‘Appeal
to Every Briton’ no paper in the British Isles
published it, except in bits. In about a fortnight,
however. The Peace News got the full text and
published it with Mr. Carl Heath’s appreciative
commentary. But those British papers had much
more room for the statement issued by the Work-
ing Committee on June 21, and indeed some of
them hailed the “Indian Congress” as “the most
important convert of all”, in that it had “over-
ruled its adored leader, Mr. Gandhiji.” What
they will now say about the Bombay resolution it
is difficult to say. They may not regard it as a
full reconversion, and may even describe it as “a
virtue of necessity.” Very much will depend upon
our future conduct, for we are now pledged to
“the policy and practice of non-violence not only
in the struggle for Swaraj, but also, in so far as
this may be possible of application, in free India, ”
and to giving a lead in disarmament to the world.
310
HARIJAN [ October 6 , 1940
The “ RecanftaftioES ”
In this connection a reference to those who have
recanted their belief in pacifism is likely to be
useful. Among the most prominent of these
ex-pacifists are Dr. C. E. M. Joad and ( Lord )
Bertrand Russell. They have decided that “non-
violence is no use now that Hitler is loose. ” Dr.
Joad describes himself as a “utilitarian pacifist”,
and the onrush of Nazism has shaken his belief:
“ If the Nazis win, then I know that all the things
I hold to be important will not only be imperilled, as
they are imperilled by war, but will certainly be destroy-
ed. The Nazi regime has exorcised culture, burnt books,
exiled artists, scientists, writers and philosophers, and
made war upon the mind of man. It gags and muzzles
its people; ii taps telej^hones and opens letters; it sets
spies and eavesdroppers to overhear and report upon
the most casual conversation; it plants its secret police
and their creatures in cages, restaurants, shops and even
private households to arrest its citizens and imprison
them without trial, or after a trial in a party court for
offences hitherto unknown to any code of law.”
The question is: how are these things to be met?
By counter-violence? Most of the things are even
now being actually done by those who want to
extirpate the Nazi curse ; and as the war advances
it will be nothing short of a race in clever and
successful brutality. Here is a report of the air
raid on Mogadishu ( Italian Somaliland ) :
“ The Italians had collected in one park at least a
thousand motor lorries, and their almost complete destruc-
tion represents a severe blow to enemy mobility and
transport... Three waves of bombers were employed in
the raid which lasted two liours. 'The attack' was con-
centrated on the vehicle park and is described as having
been very severe. The lieaviesL types of high explo-
sives were used, and smoke from the burning machines
rose into the sky. The pilots left fire behind them
which one of them described as being like a furnace
and the most amazing blaze he liacl ever seen.”
In a recent broadcast talk Air Commodore A.
Claud Wright explained the way in which the
British have been able to maintain their air supe-
riority, with the result that “the proportion of
enemy aircraft casualties proved to have been
brought down, in relation to our own casualties,
varies from day to day, sometimes from 10 to 1,
down to about 3 to 1, but the average is about
5 to 1.” And a writer in The Times (London)
makes out a case for “ compulsory, univeral pre-
military training for all boys between 16 and 20,
like that of the Finnish Youth.” The scheme
would be developed on a county basis, but “com-
mon to all would be the war games which give a
boy the experiences and adventure for which he
pines and the future soldier the appreciation of
ground, distance, and cover that he needs. ” That
is where the militarist is inevitably driven to. But
the ex-Pacifist says : “ Our first business is to win
the war no matter what happens, and pacifism
will not win the war.” There is the weakness of
the intellectual pacifist. The intellectual pacifist
depends upon his intellect for his pacifist philo-
sophy, and comes a cropper when faced with grim
reality. The intellectual pacifist is no better than
the writer who is no pacifist but who said the
other day : “ Pacifism and disarmament are good
in peace-time and not in war.”
Beware of the Trap
It is this intellectual pacifism that has led to
the defection of Joad, Russell and Co., and we,
who have looked upon non-violence as our sheet-
anchor, had lost hold of it for a moment and have
grasped it again, have to beware of this intellec-
tual pacifism. If our pacifism is merely intellec-
tual, it will not serve the purpose. It will
vanish at the first touch of reality. When there
was no war those who have now recanted were
among the front rank pacifists. When the war with
all its horrors has come to their very door, they
have ceased to be pacifists, forgetting that pacifism
has no value unless it is tested in the fierce
furnace of war raging around it. As Mr. John
Todd has put it:
“ Joad and Russell have made it very difficult for a
popular pacifist movement ever to be formed again. But
that is as it should be. We must throw over, I think,
much of this facile (it is now revealed as such ) in-
tellectual propaganda. People must ask themselves, man
for man, Avhethcr they know war is wrong absolutely.
If they start always with intellectual reservations and
arguments, the thing is useless. Pacifism is within
us like the kingdom of God. Secondly, when we pro-
ceed to argument we must do so with imagination
seeing clearly that about which we argue. But first we
must know pacifism in our whole divine selves. We
must live on creating and renewing again and agaim
remoulding the particular things of life as they come
to us.”
That is where “the living faith in God”, on
which Gandhiji places so much emphasis, comes
in. Seeing non-violence as the only salvation with
the eye of faith cannot come otherwise.
Resisting without Arms
Mr. Carl Heath in his commentary on Gandhiji’s
appeal has put his finger on the right spot when
he says that in his appeal Gandhiji 3 s
“ suggesting no tame submission to tyranny, least of
all as mere escape from the suffering of war. What
he calls for is resistance to violent evil with all the
force of man’s free soul and bodily courage. But vio-
lence apart, Gandhiji is here supplying the strong and
virile element modern i)acifism too often lacks. It is
no easy path that he offers. For the body it is a deve-
loped and corporate discipline; and for the soul it is an
utter love of and faith in God.” “ If,” he goes on,
“there were in truth no other way of resisting tyranny
and all the acts of evil and of cruelty, the man of
courage would needs embrace the last evil of war. That
is the pathetic belief of so many brave men.. -But the
answer of the satyagrahi is that there is indeed another
way, one that is not destroying but constructing.
Beginning with a faith that sees the divine essence in
men, evil concept and evil act are to be resisted both
personally and corporately. Come what may, there can
be no submission to evil, ruthlessness, tyranny and
cruelty. All allegiance to the foreign invader must be
refused whatever be the violence he may use. Does he
HARIJAN
311
October 6, 1940 ]
inflict wounds and death ? These are met by the soldier
without llinching. But the satyagrahi seeks to overcome
by a love that is no sentimentalism, and like Christ is
possessed by a deep concern for the thwarted life of
God in the champion of wrong, and for the undoing of
the evil will that rules him.”
But it means a new life, a transvaluation of all
values.
“ This challenge of Gandhiji, if it can sink deep into
the soul of Europe, will in acceptance transform all
social existence. The tension of life, international and
social, will begin to vanish. Humanity will be on the
march to a new world and a vita nuova. Is this a
dream ? All such dreams are^ vain till men rise up in
courage, and decide to answer ‘ yes ’ to the challenge of
the great idea that one such dream contains.”
But those who will share the dream must share
the faith that inspires the dream.
No Room for Passengers
The ranks of the pacifists in London have thin-
ned down following the defections. No news agent
would accept The Peace l^eivs, and the total
membership is less than one-third. But those with
living faith are undaunted. Mr. J. Middleton
Murry, who has assumed the editorship of the
little weekly, says;
“ There is no room for passengers in our movement.
Thirty thousand ]ieople united in the determination to
keep the basic human value alive are worth more than
a million who ha\'e merely put their names to a pious
declaration. Tlie signing of a pledge ‘ I renounce war ’
is no longer a sufficient bond for a pacifist movement.
Indeed in a period of total war it has an air of un-
reality and ir: At such a tiin;.' oiu; u
well say ‘renounce society’. That would at least give
us a clue to our real purpose : for since we cannot live
a human life without a society to live it in, it follows
that our business is to create a society in which we
can live — a society of peace in the midst of a society
at war.... Membership must be recognised as demand-
ing sonui real and continual sticrificc for the consolida-
tion of the brotherhood itself. When we have knit a
solid bond between ourselves we shall be better able to
withstand thc^. constantly increasing pressure of the war-
society around us.”
Inexpedient to Continue
When Gandhiji wrote his ‘Appeal to every
Briton’, he requested the Viceroy to convey the
contents to “the proper quarters”, for it repre-
sented “his personal and humble contribution to
Britons cause”. His Majesty’s Government com-
municated their reply, through the Viceroy, that
the policy advocated by Gandhiji could not be
considered, “since in common with the whole
Empire they arc firmly resolved to prosecute the
war to a victorious conclusion.” Gandhiji dki ^Qt
for a moment doubt their resolve, but he feared that
Britain, to win the War, would have to adopt
“ witli greater thoroughness the same work of des-
truction as the Germans, which would be an undigni-
fied competition.” That consideration evidently did
not weigh with them, for once war is accepted
the consideration of dignity docs not enter there.
But while Gandhiji addressed his appeal on the
highest ethical ground, he was not oblivious of
the fact that the highest ethics necessarily meant
the highest expediency. The events are fast prov-
ing it. A decisive military defeat of Germany
after the collapse of France, seems now out of
the question, and even a technical victory depends
upon Britain’s success in blockading the whole of
Europe, including Britain’s former allies and neutral
countries — a ghastly, even if a possible, prospect.
Captain B. H. Liddell-Hart, one of the foremost
authorities on military science, urges a termination
of hostilities on other but no less important
grounds :
“ As to peace, we must always remember that a long
war tends to a bad peace. Britain has only won two
wars decisively m a thousand 3 "ears — against Napoleon
and Kaiser — and, certainly, in the last case the ‘fight
to a finish ’ had bitter fruits. You may call me a
defeatist, as some do, but I still insist that victory has
less to offer than an indecisive war which ends with an
agreed peace. The idea of complete and overwhelming
victory is the greatest folly on earth; such victories only
lead to bankruptcy, moral as well as economic. The
frequent assertion that we must first ‘ win the war
before considering the peace is most fallacious. The
object of war is to obtain a better peace, even if only
from your own point of view. Hence it is essential to
conduct war with constant regard to the peace you
desire. As I emphasised in The Defence of Britain^
if you concentrate exclusively on victory, with no
thought of the after-effects, you may be too exhausted
to profit by the peace, while it is almost certain that
the peace will be a bad one, containing the germs of
another war. Tliis is a lesson supported by abundance
of experience.”
Sevagram, 24-9-40 M. D.
’interesting Parallel
Shri A. Choudhary. who has come to non-
violence after much travail, sends the following
interesting letter:
“ Looking through some press articles about Trotsky
after his recent murder, I came across the following
remarkable fact. When tlie Bolsheviks captured power
after the October revolution in 1917 the Soviet (xovern-
ment negotiated for peace with Germany. The German
Government offered very severe terms. Trotsky thought
that the moral effect of the revolution was so great
that the German Government would find it impossible
to move their armies against Russia. So, rather than
submit to those terms, lie declared that the Soviet
Government considered war to be at an end and so
would demobilise their armies, and actually proceeded
to do so. The Germans continued to advance and
later on they concluded a severer treaty.
Do you not think this to be an unconscious and
partial realisation by tlie revolutionaiy leader of tlie
possibility oi resisting foreign aggression witliout an
army ? 'Phe cause of the failure is obvious. 'Phey had
never consciously accepted non-violence or prepared
for it. 'Prutsky’s action amounted to non-resistance,
not active non-violent appeal.
There are instances in the history of Ihe Russian
Revolution of unarmed masses or workers facing the
military forces in face of rifle fire in the hope of
winning them over and actually doing so. These T
hold to bti an unorganised and unconscious adojition of
the non-violent technic|ue, by tlie masses in the streets.
But Trotsky’s instance shows that a responsible revolu-
tionary statesman, having nothing to do with non-
violence, could, in llie light of revolutionary e.xperience,
Ihink tlie ‘silly’ course now advocated by you to be a
possible one, and actually experiment with it.
Wliy should not we, with twenty years’ tradition of
non-vioicnt action, not only experiment with it, but
Jio}>c for certain success ? 1 for myself havtj begun to
believe', that of all forms of non-violent action, resist-
ance to ibreign aggression is the easiest one, and the
first one likely to be completely successful.”
Simla, 28-9-40 mir ^
312
HARIJAN
DISGRACEFUL IF TRUE
(By M. K. Gandhi)
A correspondent sends me a bitter letter
which I reproduce after removing some choice
adjectives which he has used:
On the eve of your meeting the Viceroy on the
issue of civil liberties, I hope this letter would be of
some use to you.
At present hundreds of Australian soldiers are moving
about in the city of Bombay. Like you, I have no
prejudice against any man, whatever nationality or
community he may be belonging to. But after observ-
ing the behaviour of these soldiers for a week, I am led
to the conclusion or misconclusion that they do not
belong to the ‘ human ’ race. I have solid reasons for
saying so. The Britishers call Germans * brutes ’ and
their own soldiers * brave *, ‘ gallant ‘ heroic ’ and what
not; but the scenes I have witnessed tell a different tale.
Serious molestation is going on in Bombay by these
‘ soldiers They give a slap on the face of even the
policeman. I would cite here some concrete examples,
which would give you an idea of the extent to which
this soldier menace is prevalent in the city of Bombay ;
1. One soldier caught hold of a Gujarati girl and
compelled her to dance with him in the ball-dance
fashion on the open road. Seven other soldiers encircled
the pair and made merry. It was on an unfrequented road.
2. Another bit a high school girl on her cheeks and
left her in a blood pool,
3. Four soldiers were seen dragging away a ‘Vaghari’
woman in the evening near the Prince of Wales Museum.
4. About twenty soldiers came out of the Army and
Navy Stores with brandy bottles in their hands, fully
drunk. One of them removed his pants and became
naked in the open road.
5. Harassing the taxi and victoria drivers has become
too common now to describe. A batch of six to eight
soldiers packed up in a taxi or victoria is an everyday
sight throughout the city. They compel the drivers to
take them round the whole city and pay nothing. I
cannot imagine the torture of the poor horses carrying
their overload.
6. They enter any hotels, eat, drink, enjoy, and
leave without paying anything.
7. A traffic policeman was given a slap by a soldier,
because he tried to prevent his car from proceeding further.
3, 4, 5, 6 were seen with my own eyes. The remain-
ing were narrated by friends.
I hope you will let the Viceroy know with what
* stuff * they are fighting the war ! ! I do not mean to
say that all the soldiers are like this, but what is going
on in Bombay gives me to think.”
I have several letters in comfirmation of the
general charge of indecent behaviour of these
‘soldiers’. One letter says that a philanthropic
lady had invited these and Indian soldiers to tea.
The Indians responded.. Of over 250 Australians
invited about eight responded. The poor lady, it
f October 6, 194®
is said, was frantic with grief, and phoned to know
why her Australian guests had not turned up.
‘ They have gone out, they are not ready’, was
the answer.
When I was in Bombay I had heard of this
wild behaviour. I was inclined to discount the
stories that came to me of their alleged misbeha-
viour. Some of them were at the station when I
took the train for Wardha. I mentioned to them
the complaints that were brought to my notice.
They promised to set things right. Evidently they
had no influence over their companions. They did
say to me they had not been in touch with one
another before their enlistment.
Be that as it may, the menace should be sternly
dealt with. I did mention the matter to H. E.
the Viceroy. He promised ro investigate. He
admitted that the thing was serious, if it was
true. I suppose colour prejudice is as strong in
Australia as in South Africa. The coloured man
is dirt. There shall be no equality between the
whites and the coloured races. Thus runs the South
African constitution. The white man thinks that a
nation containing forty crores of people and ruled
by one hundred thousand white men can only be
treated as the Australian soldiers are reported to
have regarded our girls, the victoriawallas, and
even the Indian police. The war has made no
difference in the behaviour of the white man.
Two questions emerge from the incidents, assum-
ing them to have happened as reported. All the
letters received by me cannot be inventions of
fertile brains. What notice have the immediate
authorities taken of the allegations ? The Viceroy
is but one man. If every ugly incident has to go
up to him for redress, the system under which
this has to happen is bad. There is gross indis-
cipline among the subordinates in so far as justice
to the people is concerned. It is plain sailing
when the power of the bayonet is to be exhibited.
Then the Viceroy and the subordinate service can
act as one man. The sinister inference from this
phenomenon is that the subordinate service is the
supreme authority and the Viceroy a mere figure-
head. The most striking though painful illustration
of the truth was furnished by the subordinate
authority combining to break to pieces the Gandhi-
Irwin pact. Had it not been wantonly disregarded
by the subordinate service, history would certainly
have been written differently. But there was no
Irwin spirit behind the service. The question,
therefore, is, in the present instance, what has the
G. O. C. of the Australian contingent done with
his men? Had he issued instructions to them as
to their behaviour in the midst of a mild popu-
lation? What did the Commissioner of Police
do ? What did the Collector do ? And what did
H, E. the Governor do ?
The second question is equally important — what
have the people done to protect girls from the
barbarity to which they were exposed? What has
the Mayor done to vindicate the honour of the
women living within his jurisdiction? True, he
has no executive authority. But he is not the
mere chairman of the Corporation. His status
HARIJAN
313
October 6, 1940 ]
■ carries with it a dignity and prestige which should
enable him to move the authorities concerned in
the right direction. What has the Bombay Con-
gress Committee done? What has the man in the
street done ? If the facts are correctly represented,
they constitute a serious blot on everyone con-
cerned. If there was public spirit, violent or
non-violent, no one, white or brown, would dare
to touch a girl against her will.
The matter demands thorough investigation.
Simla. 29-9-40
VICEROY-GANDHI
CORRESPONDENCE
The correspondence that passed today between
the Viceroy and Gandhiji on the Congress demand
for freedom of speech has been released to the
Press (Simla, September 30):
Viceroy’s Letter
Dear Mr. Gandhi,
I think it will be convenient if I record very
■ briefly in writing the origin of the talks we have
had on the 27th and 30th September and their
' outcome.
As you will remember, you wrote to me on the
18th September to ask that I should grant you an
interview, and you explained in your letter that
you were anxious to discuss the situation covered
by the recent resolution of the All India Congress
'Committee, not only in your capacity as guide of
the Congress but as a personal friend. I was, I
need not say, most ready to talk things over with
you, and we have now had the advantage of two
‘ conversations.
In the course of these conversations the situation
has been exhaustively discussed, with particular
reference to the question of free speech in time
‘ of war. On that matter, while professing yourself
most anxious to avoid in any way embarrassing
His Majesty’s Government in the prosecution of
the war, you made it clear to me that you regard-
• ed it as essential that the Indian National Con-
gress and other members of the public should be
in a position to give full expression to their views
in relation to the war effort, provided only that
such expression was fully non-violent.
I indicated to you the nature of the special
treatment laid down by law in the United King-
dom for dealing with conscientious objectors —
which I may broadly describe as an arrangement
under which, while the conscientious objector is
■absolved from the duty of fighting and is allowed
even to profess his faith in public, he is not
permitted to carry his opposition to the length of
endeavouring to persuade others, whether soldiers
■or munition workers, to abandon their allegiance
•or to discontinue their effort.
You made it clear to me that you would not
regard treatment of that nature as adequate in the
conditions of India, and that you regarded it as
essential that in India, where in your judgment
conditions were wholly different from those exist-
ing in Great Britain, the Indian objector, either to
*all war as such, or to the participation of India in
the present war, should be untramelled * in rbc
expression of his views.
It emerged further from our ^conversation that„
while you would not yourself preach to workers
engaged on war work at the actual works, in an
endeavour there to dissuade them from working
on war equipment, you would regard it as essen-
tial that it should be open to Congressmen and
non-Congressmen alike to deliver addresses and
otherwise to call upon people throughout rhe
country to refrain from assisting India’s war effort
in any way which would involve India’s participa-
tion in bloodshed.
I listened with the utmost care and attention
to your argument, and our examination of the
situation has been full and close. I felt bound,
however, in the outcome, to make it clear to you
that action such as you suggest would certainly
amount not only to the inhibition of India’s war
effort, but to that embarrassment of Great Britain
in the prosecution of the war which the Congress
state that they are anxious to avoid ; and that it
would clearly not be possible in the interests of
India herself, more particularly at this most criti-
cal juncture in the war, to acquiesce in the inter-
ference with the war effort which would be
involved in freedom of speech so wide as that
for which you had asked.
Gandhiji’s Reply
Dear Lord Linlithgow,
I have your letter of even date. It fairly sets
forth the Congress position as I placed it before
you. It is a matter of deep regret to me that
the Government have not been able to appreciate
the Congress position, meant just to satisfy the
bare requirements of the people, whether
Congressmen or others, who felt a conscientious
objection to helping a war to which rhey were
never invited and which they regard, so far as
they are concerned, as one for saving Imperialism,
of which India is the greatest victim. Their
objection is just as conscientious as mine as a war
resister. I cannot claim greater freedom for my
conscience than for that of those I have named.
As I made it plain in the course of our talks,
the Congress is as much opposed to victory for
Nazism as any Britisher can be. But their objection
cannot be carried to the extent of their participa-
tion in the war. And since you and the Secretary
of State for India have declared that the whole
of India is voluntarily helping the war effort, it
becomes necessary to make clear that the vast
majority of the people of India are not inte-
rested in it. They make no distinction between
Nazism and the double autocracy that rules
India. Had His Majesty’s Government recognised
the freedom required in the special condition of
India, they would have justified the claim that
they were receiving from India only such effort
as they could voluntarily. The war party and the
no- war party would have been placed on an equal
footing so far as each worked fully non-violently.
As to the last paragraph of your letter, I wish
to remind you that it was never contemplated to^
314
HARIJAN
[ October 6, 1940
carry non-embarrassmenr to the point of self-
extinction or, in other words, stopping all national
activities which were designed to make India
peace-minded and show that India’s participation
could not benefit anyone, not excluding Great
Britain, Indeed I hold that, if India were left
free to make her choice which freedom of speech
implied, India would probably have turned the
scales in favour of Britain and true liberty by the
moral prestige which Britain would have then
gained.
I must, therefore, repeat that the Congress does
still want to refrain from embarrassing the British
Government in their war effort. But it is impossi-
ble for the Congress to make of the policy a
fetish by denying its creed at this critical period
in the history of mankind. If the Congress has
to die, it should do so in the act of proclaiming
its faith. It is unfortunate that we have not been
able to arrive at an agreement on the single issue
of freedom of speech. But I shall hug the hope
that it will be possible for the Government to
work out their policy in the spirit of the
Congress position.
I should like to touch upon the other points I
raised in our talks. But for fear of burdening this
reply, I refrain. I shall hope to make a public
statement on them as early as I can.
In conclusion, let me thank you publicly for
the great courtesy and patience with which you
listened to my very long statement and argument.
And though our ways seem to diverge for the
moment, our personal friendship will, as you have
kindly said at the time of saying farewell, bear
the strain of divergence.
As arranged I am handing our correspondence
to the Press for publication.
‘ COME THOU IN A SHOWER
OF COMPASSION ’
This visit to Simla is unlike the three previous
visits to these heights during the year since the
outbreak of the war. Those visits were at the
Viceroy’s invitation. This one is at Gandhiji’s
request. On the previous occasions he came
neither as M. K. Gandhi — ‘a private individual
can have no place in a satrap’s books’ — nor
as a plenipotentiary of the Congress. He came to
represent as best he could the Congress position
as he understood it. And indeed when he came
at the end of June he had gently to remind
the Viceroy that, though he was always willing
to obey his summons, His Excellency had to
know that the Wardha decision of the Working
Committee had meant a complete political break
between him and the Committee. This time he
comes as the accredited guide and captain of the
Congress, and also, as he made it clear in his
letter of request, as Lord Linlithgow’s friend, which
the latter had always been good enough to permit
him to call himself. In fact the Viceroy’s prompt
telegraphic reply to Gandhiji’s letter was nothing
less than an act of friendship. For he well might
have ^aid ‘ no \ and Gandhiji would have under-
stood it.
Again this visit is unlike the previous visits, in
that Gandhiji came with no hurry in his mind to
get back, and so when His Excellency asked for
his programme he said he was at his disposal for
as long as he liked, as his mission was his supreme
work. He had come as a beggar knocking at the
Viceregal door, and so he might not choose.
As the guide of the Congress he came indeed
with a very simple and restrictedly concrete issue.
But as Lord Linlithgow’s friend, and as a friend
of the British people, he had innumerable things
to talk about, and he wanted to unbosom himselL
For while he had written frankly and freely
during the past few months, he had deliberately
left more things unsaid than said. Often enough
his faith had been at breaking point, he had
missed the ring of sincerity in utterances from
great places, and he was sore distraught over
happenings in the country.
He had unburdened himself at the Bombay
meeting of the A. I. C. C., and yet I know that
he had deliberately “ half revealed and half
concealed” the agitated soul within. He said he
would submit to the Viceroy his interpretation
of the sum total of the Government’s activities
beginning with the Viceroy’s pronouncement, but
he gave no inkling of the interpretation. In just a
few measured phrases he had given his opinion
about Col. Amcry’s speech, but he had not laid
bare his soul.
And he had said nothing in Harijan about the
distressing news from all parts of the country
that his correspondents had been giving him —
about arrests, exactions, savage behaviour of the
Australian soldiers recently dumped into Bombay,
and so on.
He had stored up that agony. On the train to
Delhi he went into silence in order to do his
writing for Harijan, and finished three articles in
the wretchedly jolting carriage. Wc had little
talk on the way. In Delhi friends showed him a
summary of Col. Amery’s speech throwing out a
ray of hope for an understanding. But who
knows? It may be as deceptive as the Blackpool
speech which preceded the outrageous pronounce-
ment that he made a day or two later. And the
full text of the latest speech did indeed seem a
revised edition — ■ pitched in a lower key perhaps
— .of that pronouncement.
Who could say what was to be the outcome of
the Simla visit? In the car that brought us up
to Simla he finished part of the arrears of his
sleep, and we talked somewhat desultorily. I
asked him twice if he would not like to go off to
sleep again. He said ‘ no. ’ And the stored up
agony broke out in an unexpected and touch-
ingly sweet way. Almost abruptly he asked me :
“ Mahadev, what is the meaning of lukaye jay ? ”
I knew the words of that life-giving song of our
Poet, and he knew that I had translated the
Bengali into Gujarati parallel tunes. I said: ‘The
words mean : is lost, is missing.” “ Just repeat the
two lines,” he said. ‘T remember Jivan jakhan
shukUye jay, and what does the Poet describe as
HARIJAN
315
October G, 1940 ]
being lost?" I gave him the substance of the
two lines : When the spring of life dries up,
come thou in a shower of compassion. When
sweetness lies hidden, come Thou in the Heavenly
dew of song." And he beamed, as though sweet-
ness and compassion had come to him. Then I
repeated the last stanza and gave my crude trans-
lation of it : “ When stormy passions rage within
and blind me, O Thou sleepless Purifier! come in
an awakening flash of lightning." “ He is a rishi
i seer ), exclaimed Gaiidhiji, and we have no
.idea how much we owe to him." I was in a
reminiscent mood. I reminded him how, in spite
of his frail health, the Poet had come rushing
from Santiniketan to the Yeravda jail where
Gandhiji lay fasting for the Harijans, and how
within a few hours of the Poet’s auspicious entry
in the prison the good news of the revision of
the Premier’s decision came, how we sat down
to pray before Gandhiji broke his fast, and how
I requested the Poet to sing this very song. It
was a sacred memory. Gandhiji remembered the
whole of the moving scene, but he did not remember
the song. Since then he had heard the isong from
me more than once, and the thought, and even
some of the words, had stayed with him, as
he recalled them when he was thinking of his
dijEcult mission.
As on reaching Simla I have found Gitanjali,
let the reader have the Poet’s authentic version:
“ When the heart is liarcl and parched up, come
upon me willi a showii of mercy.
When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of
song.
When tumultuous work raises its dm on all sides
shutting me out from beyond, come to me, niy lord
of silence, with thy peace and rest.
When my ]:)eggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a
corner, break open the door, my king, and come Avith
the ceremony of a king.
When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust,
O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light
•and thy thunder.”
And with the memory of the song the fear
that the knock may not be heard fled from my
heart. For after all the knock was to be made
at no human door. And as the Poet has sung in
another of his songs :
“If Thou speakest not, I will fill my heart with thy
silence and endure it. I Avill keep still and wait like
the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with
patience.
The morning will surely come, the darkness will
vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden streams
breaking through the sky.”
Simla, 28-9-40 M. D.
Postscript
Mysterious are the ways of God. After the
above was typed and sent to the post, the follow-
ing telegram was received from Shri Anil Kumar
Chanda :
“ Gurudeva dangerously ill. Being removed Calcutta
tonight accompanied by Calcutta doctors,”
To which Gandhiji immediately sent the follow-
ing reply:
“Your telegram. May God pull Gurudeva through and
keep him yet a while for humanity as He has done
before.”
Who knows when we were remembering the
Poet and the debt humanity owed to him, as we
were coming up to Simla, we were offering our
prayers for his long life, though we did not know
that he was so ill. M. D.
Notes
The Breach
It is my firm conviction that British statesmen
have failed to do the right thing when it was
easy to do it. If India is wholly in favour of
participation in the war, they could have easily
disregarded any hostile propaganda. But the
determination to gag free expression of opinion,
provided it w-as not in the least tainted with
violence, shatters Britain’s claim that India’s parti-
cipation is voluntary. Had the Congress proposal
been accepted, such aid as Britain would have got
from India would have been an asset of inestimable
value. The non-violent party w^ould have played
an effective part for honourable peace when the
proper time for it was in sight, as it must be some
day. I have been shown The Times comment
on the breach. I accept the compliment about
my resourcefulness. But great as I believe it to
be, I own that it has its limitations. There must
be willingness on the other side. I regret to have
to say I wholly missed it at the interview. The
Viceroy was all courtesy, but he was unbending,
and believed in the correctness of his judgment, and
as usual had no faith in that of nationalist India.
The Britisher is showing extraordinary bravery on
the battle-field in a marvellous manner. But he
lacks bravery to take risks in the moral domain.
I often wonder whether the latter has any place
in British politics. Sevagram, 3-10-40
To Satyagrahis
Satyagrahis will not be impatient with me and
argue with me or with themselves and say,
“When will you give the word? You have had
your interview with the Viceroy. You have got
what many of us had told you you would get."
Your telling me this or that mattered little. The
attempt was worth making. I had told you that,
even if I did not get what I wanted from the
Viceroy, I would bring from Simla added strength
for myself Who knows that to have added
strength is not better than weak success. But my
wisdom will be tested by the manner in which I
use the strength. Maulana Saheb has called the
Working Committee for the 11th inst. I hope I
shall be ready then with my plan of action. But
whatever it is, it will be good only if it carries
with it the united will of all Congressmen, if not
the whole nation. Then the visible action even of
one man will be enough for the purpose intended.
Meanwhile please remember there is to be no
civil disobedience, direct or indirect. Any breach
of this will weaken the cause because it will
unnerve your general who is susceptible to the
HAEIJAN
3i6
[October 6, 1940
siighcesc indiscipline. A general in action has no
strength but what is given to him by his people.
On the train to Wardha, 2-10-40
Iliegai Levy?
A problem has arisen at Alibag, the headquarters of
the Kolaba District near Bombay, and I am afraid it
exists in many other districts. I place the facts in detail
and seek your advice.
Motor buses run from Alibag in three directions.
There is no other means of travel. Each service is
organized and conducted by a union of the bus-owners.
Trie fare charged was and even today is less than
wliat could be levied under the Government schedule.
Sometime in the third week of August the District
Superintendent of Police, Kolaba, wrote a letter to all
the bus-owners in the District. In this letter he inti-
mated to them the decision of the District War Gift
Committee to affix half anna War Gift stamp to every
ticket issued to a bus passenger. He further asked
them whether they were willing to do the same. In
this connection it may be noted that the District Super-
intendent of Police is neither the chairman nor any
office-bearer of the War Committee. Presumably he
wrote this letter to bring pressure on the bus-owners
who are under the control of the Police Department in
every respect.
Since 1st: September the unions increased the fare by
half an anna per passenger irrespective of distance. They
at times attribute this to the rise in the price of petrol.
But in fact this half anna they have to credit to the
War Gift Fund. In order to see that full amount is
credited, the union account books are to be checked by
the Police Office and account struck. Such are the facts.
What could and should be done to resist this forcible
lev'v exacted from every passenger ? What should bus
pa.>sengers who don’t want to pay the extra levy do ? ”
This is a typical letter. In some shape or other
things go on like this. I call it an illegal levy.
Any passenger who will take the trouble can
decline to pay the levy and tender the scheduled
fare and demand a seat in the bus. If he is re-
jected, he has a cause of action. So far as I know,
it is not the Government policy to compel people
to give donations. There is legal compulsion
enough for the purposes of the war. Even that
is being carried too far and is causing resentment.
But it becomes intense when to this legal levy
is added the illegal one miscalled donations. It
is indecent to legalise arbitrary exactions. It is
doubly indecent to connive at illegalities. I can
only hope that these will be stopped altogether.
"There should be no engineering of war contribu-
tions. If they are to be spontaneous, let the
people send what they like to the appointed
depots. This will be a true test of the strength
of voluntary effort. Simla, 29-9-40
A Christian Student’s Complaint
An Indian Christian student from a Missionary
college in Bengal writes:
Missionary colleges are meant to be centres of
preaching and conversion to Christianity. The Mission-
aries talk of the Bible, Christ and Christianity, bui:
when any matter of national importance to India arises
they are suprisingly reactionary'. We have annual
socials in our college. On the evening of 7th September
one such was held, and the opening item in our pro-
gramme was the singing of Bande mataratn by a group
of boarders. The Principal objected on the ground that
it was difficult for Europeans to stand for ten minutes
in honour of an Indian national song and that, if the
practice of singing Bande mataram were allowed, it
would mean official recognition of it by them as a
national song which they do not care to give. No
compromise was possible in spite of every argumenc ou
the part of the students. The students have called a
strike. In the same way the Congress should also resort
to satyagraha and non-cooperation, for Imperialist
Britain will never understand our point of view.’'
Of late I have written a great deal against strikes
by students. I do not know the name of the
college. Had I known it, I would have sought
verification from the authorities. Therefore I base
my opinion on the assumption that the facts are
correctly stated by my correspondent. If they are,
I am happy to be able to say that this strike was
thoroughly justified. And I hope that it was
wholly spontaneous and successful. Whether the
song is in fact national or not is not for the
Missionaries concerned to determine. For them
it is surely enough to know that their students .
recognise the song as national. Professors and
teachers, if they are to be popular with their
pupils, have to identify themselves with their
activities and aspirations so long as they are not
unhealthy or immoral.
Simla, 29-9-40 M. K. G.
Handmade Paper
Our purchases and sales of handmade paper for the
month of September amounted to Rs. 542-8-9 and
Rs. 1,245-2-3 respectively, bringing the total figures,
of purchases ' and sales from January' I to September 30 ■
to Rs. 15,975-6-3 and Rs. 13,375-10-9 respectively.
Rs. 1,403-12-0 have been given for paper-cutting
and envelope-making.
Manager
Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. Price Re. 1 *
postage 2 As. extra. Available at Harijan Office.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Sindh Hindus
M. K. Gandhi 309
Occasional Notes
M. D.
309
Shameful If True
M. K. Gandhi
312
Vicekoy-Gandhi Correspon-
DENCE
3L3
‘Come Thou in a Shower op’
Campassion'
M. D.
314
Notes :
Interesting Parallei.
. M. K. G.
311
The Breach
. M. K. G.
315
To Satyagrahis
. M. K. G.
315
Illegal Levy?
. M. K. G.
316
A Christian STur>ENT’^
Complaint
, M. K. G.
316
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Editor : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. Vin, No. 35 ] POONA — SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
TWO THOUGHT-PROVOKING
LETTERS
( By M. K, Gandhi )
A friend writes thus:
‘'When you asked for the names of out and out be-
lievers in non-violence I wanted very much to send
in mine, but something within compelled me to refrain.
First because I felt there was lack of ahimsa in my
personal conduct, and secondly because there was the
opposite of love for the English in my heart. I rejoice
when 1 read in the papers of the destruction wrought
on London and Britain, and I inwardly want the
British to be defeated in the war. I am impelled to
confess this, for I could not deceive you.”
The second letter is from South Africa. I take
a fev/ sentences from it :
“I am puzzled as to what should be the attitude of
Indians at the present juncture. The 'white’ races
are so utterly callous in regard to ‘ coloured ’ people,
and in spite of the war colour prejudice continues
unabated, \^^ly tlien should we give our lives for them ?
Quite recently an Indian student who returned here
from Europe was telling us that in spite 'of the fact
that the steamer was not croweded the British Company
hesitated to give accommodation to Indians. Such treat-
ment leads us and also the African people to believe
that there is no difference between the Nazis, the Boers
and tlie British, so far as we are concerned. If there
were Nazi rule in South Africa, we could not be worse
treated than wc are today. Many of us think that the
British are sweet-tongued but they pursue their own
ruthless policy in spite of honeyed words, whereas
Hitler would be more frank. He at any rate says
exactly \Viiat he feels. Is there not truth in this ?
Anyhow wc ought to know where we stand. Please
tell us.”
Thougli differently worded the two letters betray
the same thought. It is difficult for those who
suffer at British hands to shed either their dislike
of, or a disinclination to help, them. But the
present is a real testing time for ahimsa which
alone can throw light on our path.
First of all we must distinguish between the
British people and their policy. We must have
full liberty thoughtfully and with reason to criticise
the latter, but we may not dislike them. To err
is human. All have their good as well as bad
points. It is in human nature, even if we are in the
wrong, to resent bitter, often unjust, criticism. But
if we were lovingly shown our faults, we would
perhaps be willing to listen. We must behave
thus towards the British. Let us tell them where
they are in the wrong, but do not let us wish
them any harm. We may demand a mental and
heart change in their outlook, but we may not
pray for their downfall.
Such an attitude is indispensable in satyagraha
which demands that, while we may neither speak evil
of wrong-doers nor wish them ill, we must at the
same time show them the error of their ways and
non-cooperate with them in their wrong-doing. The
Congress has been trying to follow this great prin-
ciple for the last twenty years. I believe 'that we
have benefited greatly therefrom. Moreover there
is no reason why we should wish the British to
be defeated in this war. The writer from South
Africa rightly says that there is not much to
choose between the British and the Nazis. This is
as clear as daylight in South Africa, in particular,
where coloured races are treated as definitely inferior
in every way. What more than this could the
Nazis say or do ? The defeat of the British would
connote the victory of the Nazis, which, again, we
do not and must not desire. Therefore we should be
impartial. We are desirous of our own indepen-
dence. For that there is no reason why we should
want the destruction of Germany. We have to
achieve as well as maintain our freedom through
our own strength. Wc do not need British or any
outside help for it. Those of us who have full faith
in ahimsa believe that we can win it through non-
violence and keep it thereby also.
There is, however, a section amongst us who
believe in winning and maintaining our independ-
ence through force of arms. Their position is a
difficult one. As a matter of fact we have still to
gain our freedom. If we win it through violence,
we will not do so by helping Britain in the war.
For if we help the war effort, we really come more
under their sway than we are today. And if in
spite of our help they lose, we would then come
under the rule of another foreign power. So that,-
if Britain and India were jointly defeated, we would,
so to speak, be jumping from the frying pan into
the fire. Moreover India has no enmity towards
any nation. Hitler and others have no illusions.
They know full well that India is not a willing
partner in the war, that we are a slave country,
and that our wishes do not count. It was
really the Congress who raised this question
because the Congress has adopted non-violence as
its weapon. At the same time we have no quarrel
with those who do not believe in non-violence.
Each of us must go his own way. By doing so we
shall know where India stands. If the Congress
had not spoken out its mind, it would have com-
318
HARIJAN
[ October 13, 1940
mitred suicide, that is to say, it would have given
up its right to follow out its policy of non-vio-
lence. It is its duty to keep itself alive. Therefore
the Congress has to take some action. What that
action will be will shortly become known. I suggest
to the two writers that they should try to rid their
hearts of all anger and hatred. These are in reality
signs of weakness. Non-violence is an active force.
If they were to follow it, they would be active
and they would be spreading the leaven of ahimsa.
The Congress demand is not for itself only. It
extends far beyond even India and embraces the
world. Let us therefore wish well from the bottom
of our hearts to ail the warring nations.
Sevagram, 7-10-40 ( Translated from Gujarati )
PHYSICAL TRAINING AITD AHIMSA
( By M. IC. Gandhi )
Part of the course in physical training
schools and gymnasia is a training in the use of
the sword, the spear and similar weapons. The
Congress volunteers are taught various kinds of
drill, and in many places are given also the train-
ing I have mentioned. I have received a number
of letters asking for my views on the subject
from the point of view of ahimsa.
Before I proceed to state my vievv^s, it is neces-
sary to mention an important fact, vie. that
physical fitness is the only thing examined in case
of candidates intending to be recruited for a vio-
lent army. Old men, women, and raw youth are
not regarded as eligible. Nor are those suffering
from disease ht to be chosen. And it is necessaiy
to insist on this rule in selecting those recruits.
But the standard is quite the contrary for select-
ing recruits for a non-violent body. The chief
thing to test is the candidate's mental fitness. And
so such a body may have old men, women, raw
youth, the blind and the lame, and even lepers,
and it would bid fare to win. The ability to kill
requires training. The ability to die is there in
him who has the will for it. One can conceive of
a child of ten or twelve being a perfect satyagrahi;
indeed we come across such in daily life. But for
such a child to be recruited for a violent army is
out of the question. In spite of the best will in
the world he cannot have the physical fitness.
But to say that lepers and children are eligible
for a non-violent army is not to say that a non-
violent person need have no regard for physical
fitness. Ahimsa requires certain duties which can
be done only by those with a trained physique.
It is therefore most necessary to consider
what kind of physical training a non-violent
person should receive.
Very few of the rules applying to a violent army
will apply to a non-violent body. A violent army
will not have its arms for show but for definitely
destructive purposes. A non-violent body will have
no use for such weapons and -will therefore beat
its swords into plough-shares and spears into
pruning hooks, and will shrink from the thought
of using them as lethal weapons. The violent
soldier will be trained in the use of violence by
being taught to shoot. The non-violent soldier will
have no time for this pastime. He will get all his
training through nursing the sick, saving those in
danger at the risk of his own life, patrolling places
which may be in fear of thieves and dacoits, and in
laying down his life, if necessary, in dissuading
them from their purpose. Even the uniforms of
the two will differ. The violent man will wear
a coat of mail for his protection, and his uniform
will be such as can dazzle people. The uniform
of the non-violent man will be simple, in confor-
mity with the dress of the poor, and betokening
humility. Its purpose will be just to keep him
from heat and cold and rain. A violcuc soldier’s
protection will be his arms, no matter how much
he takes God’s name. He will not shrink from
spending millions on armaments. The first and last
shield and buckler of the non-violent person will
be his unwavering faith in God. And the minds
of the two will be as poles asunder. Tlie violent
man will always be casting about for plans to
work the destruction of his enemy and will pray
to God to fulfill his purpose. The national anthem
of the British people is worth considering in this
connection. It prays to God to save the King, to
frustrate the enemy’s knavish tricks, and to des-
troy him. Millions of Englishineu sing this anthem
aloud with one viocc standing respectfully. If
God is the Incarnation of Mercy, He is not likely
to iistea to such prayer, but it cannot but affect
the minds of those who sing it, and in limes of
war it simply kindles their hatred and anger to
white heat. The one condition of winning a
violent war is to keep the indignation agamsc
the enemy burning fiercely.
In the dictionary of the non-violent there is no
such word as an external enemy. But even for
the supposed enemy he will have nothing but
compassion in his heart. He will believe that no
man is intentionally wicked, that there is no man
but is gifted with the faculty to discriminate bet-
ween right and wrong, and that if that faculty
were to be fully developed, it would surely mature
into non-violence. He will therefore pray to God
that He may give the supposed enemy a sense of
right and bless him. His prayer for himself will
always be that the spring of compassion in him
may ever be flowing, and that he may ever grow
in moral strength so that he may face death
fearlessly.
Thus since the minds of both will differ as the
poles, their physical training will also differ in
the same degree.
We all know more or less what military
training is like. But we have hardly ever
thought that non-violent training must be of a
different kind. Nor have we ever cared to dis-
cover whether in the past such training was given
anywhere in the world. I am of opinion that it
used to be given in the past and is even now
being given in a haphazard way. The various
exercises of Hatha Yoga are in this direction. The
physical training given by means of these imparts
among other things physical health, strength,
OCTO i ) 1 3, ] 940 j HARIJAN 319
agilit-y, ana the capacity to bear heat and cold.
Sliri KuvalayananJji is making scientific researches
in the tcchiiiQue and benefits of these exercises.
I have no knowledge of the progress he has
made, nor do I know whether he is making his
experiments with ahimsa as his goal. My refer-
ence to Hatha Yoga is meant only with a view
to showing that this ancient type of non-violent
training still exists, though I know that there is
room in it for improvement. I do not know
either that the author of this science had any
idea of mass non-violence. The exercises had at
their back the desire for individual salvation. The
object of the various exercises was to strengthen
and purify the body in order to secure control of
the mind. The mass non-violence we are now
thinking of applies to people of all religions,
and therefore the rules that may be framed
must be such as can be accepted by all believers
in ahimsa. And then as wc are thinking of a
non-vioient army, that is to say of bringing into
being a Satyagraha Sangha, we can but build
anew accepting the old as our foundation. Let
us then think of the physical training required
by a satyagrahi. If the satyagrahi is not healthy
in mind and body, he may perhaps fail in
mustering complete fearlessness. He should have
the capacity to stand guard at a single spot day
and night; he must not fall ill even if he has to
bear cold and heat and rain; he must have the
strength to go to places of peril, to rush to scenes
of fire, and the courage to wander about alone in
desolate jungles and haunts of death; he will bear,
without a grumble, severe beatings, starvation and
worse, and will keep to his post of duty without
flinching; he will have the resourcefulness and
capacity to plunge into a seemingly impenetrable
scene of rioting; he will have the longing and
capacity to run with the name of God on his lips
to the rescue of men living on the top storeys of
buildings enveloped in flames; he will have the
fearlessness to plunge into a flood in order to
rescue people being carried off by it or to jump
down a well to save a drowning person.
This list can be extended ad libiiim. The sub-
stance of it all is that we should cultivate the
capacity to run to the rescue of people in danger
and distress and to suffer cheerfully any amount
of hardship that may be inflicted upon us. He
who accepts this fundamental principle will easily
be able to frame rules of physical training for
satyagrahis. I have a firm conviction that the
very foundation of this training is faith in God.
If that is absent, all the training one may have
received is likely to fail at the critical moment.
Let no one poohpooh my statement by saying
that the Congress has many people who are
ashamed to take the name of God. I am simply
trying to state the view in terms of the science
of satyagralia as I have known and developed
it. The only weapon of the satyagrahi is God,
by whatsoever name one knows Him. Without
Him tlic Latyagrahi is devoid of strength before
an c;ppo[\ent armed with monstrous weapons. Most
people lie prostrate before physical might. But
he who accepts God as his only Protector will
remain unbent before the mightiest earthly power.
As faith in God is essential in a satyagrahi, even
so is brahmacharya. Without brahmacharya the
satyagrahi will have no lustre, no inner strength
to stand unarmed against the whole world.
Brahmacharya may have here the restricted mean-
ing of conservation of the vital energy brought
about by sexual restraint, and not the compre-
hensive definition I have given of it. He who intends
to live on spare diet and without any external
remedies, and still wants to have physical strength,
has need to conserve his vital energy. It is the
richest capital man can ever possess. He who
can preserve it ever gains renew'ed strength out
of it. He who uses it up, consciously or uncon-
sciously, will ultimately be impotent. His
strength will fail him at the right moment. I
have often written about the v/ays and means of
conserving this energy. Let the reader turn to
my writings and carry out the instructions. He
who lusts with the eye or the touch can never
conserve his vital energy, nor the man who lusts
after flesh-pots. Those who hope to conserve this
energy without strict observance of the rules will
no more succeed than those who hope to swim
against the current without being exhausted. He
who restrains himself physically and sins with
his thoughts will fare worse than he who, without
professing to observe brahmacharya, lives the life
of a restrained householder. For he who lusts with
the thought will ever remain unsated and will end’
his life a moral wreck and burden on the earth.
Such a one can never be a full satyagrahi.
Nor can one who hankers after wealth and fame.
This is the foundation of the physical training for
a satyagrahi. The detailed structure of the course
can easily be built in consonance with this
foundation.
It should now be clear that in the physical
training of a satyagrahi there is no room for lethal
weapons like the sword - or the spear. For far
more terrible weapons than we have seen are in
existence today, and newer ones are being invented
every day. Of what fear will a sword rid him who
has to cultivate the capacity to overcome all fear
— real or imaginary? I have not yet heard of a
man having shed all fear by learning sword-play.
Mahavir and .others who imbibed ahimsa did
not do so because they knew the use of weapons,
but because in spite of the knowledge of their
use they shed all fear.
A slight introspection will show that he who*
has always depended on the sword will find it
diflScult to throw it away. But having deliberately
discarded it he is likely to find his ahimsa more
lasting than that of him who, not knowing its use,
fancies he will not fear it. But that does not mean
that in order to be truly non-violent one must
beforehand possess and know the use of arms. By
parity of reasoning, one might say that only a
thief can be honest, only a diseased person can
be healthy, and only a dissolute [person can be a
320
HARIJAIT
[ October 13, 1940
brahmachari. The fact is that we have formed
the habit of thinking along traditional grooves
and will not get out of them. And as we cannot
take a detached view, we cannot draw the right
conclusions and get caught in delusive snares.
If I have the time, I hope to present the reader
with a model course of training.
Simla, 29-9-40 {Translated from Gujarati}
I Oct. 13 1940 I
HYDERABAD
( By M. K, Gandhi )
“ What do you say to the right of Hyderabad
to the territories that have been taken away by
the English under some pretext or other, e. g.
Berar, Ceded Districts, Karnatak, etc. ?'*
This question demands an answer. So far as
they have been taken away by the English the
right accrues against the English. If I am asked
as a matter of equity, I can only say that the
people of the respective parts should be asked to
make their choice. That is the only equity I know.
But I suggest that all such discussion is academic.
If India, the geographical unit, gets independence,
as it must some day, it means that every com-
ponent part has its independence. If independence
is won non-violently, all the component parts will
be voluntarily interdependent working in perfect
harmony under a representative central authority
which will derive its sanction from the confidence
reposed in it by the component parts. If indepen-
dence is taken by force of arms, then the strongest
power will hold sway over all India. And this
may be Hyderabad for aught I know. All the
big and the petty States will be free willynilly
from the British yoke. They will each fight for
their existence and succumb to the strongest
who will be the Emperor of India. This pre-
supposes unarmed millions lying prostrate at the
feet of the combination of armed States. Many
other things are, however, conceivable. The Indian
part of the British army will probably have cons-
ciousness of strength and an independent existence.
There may be Muslim arms, Sikh arms, Gurkha
arms, Rajput arms and what not. They may fight
among themselves or, having allied themselves to
some nationalist party, may present a united front
to the Princes. There may also be the descent
upon India of the warring tribes from the Frontier
to share the spoils or the sovereignty itself.
The Congress, if it still has anything of its non-
violence left in it, will die in the attempt to
establish universal peace in India. It is not im-
possible that all the warring elements will find it
profitable in more ways than one voluntarily to
surrender themselves to the moral authority of a
central power. This means universall suflEfage exer-
cised by a disciplined and politically intelligent
electorate. It also means a decent and permanent
burial to communal and other discord.
But this may not happen. The existing state of
things does not warrant an optimistic outlook. But
I am a man of faith. And to faith all things
are possible. But supposing the worst happens and
there is anarchy in the land, if there is God upon
earth as He is in heaven, then you may depend
upon it that I shall not live to make any choice.
I shall die in the anarchic flame whilst I am vainly
attempting to still it with my tiny shaky hands.
But if you ask me in advance whether I would
face anarchy in preference to foreign orderly rule,
either British or any other, I would unhesitatingly
plump for anarchy, say, the rule of the Nizam
supported by Chiefs become feudatory to him
or supported by the border Muslim tribes. In my
estimation it will be cent per cent domestic. It
will be home rule though far, far from self-rule
or swa-raj But you must let me repeat
that, while I can write thus academically, if the
reality faces me, my choice will be death or the
rule of the people by the people for the people.
This means the rule of unadulterated non-violence.
So you see my non-violence is made not of
cotton wool but of a metal much harder than
steel and yet softer than cotton wool. You can
compare it only with itself.
You will naturally then ask what place have
the Princes in my scheme of things. Such a ques-
tion should not arise if you had fully realized the
implications of non-violence. For the Princes
obeying the moral authority of a central body not
sustained by arms will find an honourable place as
servants of the people. No one will have any
rights but what are inherent in a willing perfor-
mance of one’s duties. Thus H. E. H. the Nizam
will then be the chosen servant of people. Only,
then, his people will not be merely those confined
willy nilly within his present borders but may be
all India. You must not dismiss this as a utopian
scheme. I claim to be a practical man. If the
Congress proves true to its policy, what may
seem today to be an airy nothing may tomorrow
become an agreeable reality. In my scheme there
is no waste of either human talent or creative
effort. Let me quote here my cable to H. G.
Wells in reply to his on the Rights of Man :
“ Received your cable. Have carefully read your five
articles. You will permit me to say you are on the
wrong track. I feel sure that I can draw up a better
charter of rights than you liave drawn up. But what
good will it be ? Who will become its guardian ? If
you mean propaganda or popular education, you have
begun at the wrong end. 1 suggest the right way.
Begin with a charter of Duties of Man, and I promise
the rights will follow as spring follows winter. 1 write
from experience. As a young man I began life by seek-
ing to assert my rights, and I soon discovered I had
none — not even over my wife. So I began by discover-
ing and performing my duty by my wife, my children,
friends, companions and society, and 1 find today
that I have greater rights, perhaps, than any living
man I know. If this is too tall a claim, then I say
I do not know anyone who possesses greater rights
than L”
Sevagram, 8-10-40
OCTOBEll 13, 1940 ]
HARIJAN
321
Notes
Thanks
I am i^ratcful to the numerous senders cJ birth-
day lArcctings from India as well as remote parts ot
the earth. Many have this time also sent me
strands of yarn some of which is of great hneness,
strength and evenness. Needless to say I shall
make the wisest use of all these ( to me ) precious
gifts lor they betoken a labour of love for Daridra-
narayan. Some have sent monetary gifts either for
Harijans or for the A. 1. S. A. All these have
been sent to the proper quarters.
Sevagram, 8-10-40
" A Stab in the Back ' ?
I have read Sir Sikandar Hayat’s reported speech
on the correspondence between H. E. the Viceroy
and myself. I was sorry for it. Where is the stab
in the back when everything is done openly after
full discussion and with the utmost consideration
for the party affected ? He is a bad advocate who
overproves his case, and I promise that Sir
Sikandar will be proved as such. Sir Sikandar
says that ninetyninc per cent of the Punjab is for
participation in the war. No doubt he is a popu-
larly elected member of the Punjab Assembly and
he is the undisputed Premier of the Punjab. Never-
theless it is a big claim that he puts forth for the
Punjab. Sir Sikandar's cause will lose nothing by
being true to facts. And the facts are that the
Punjab has been one of the best recruiting grounds
for the British rulers. This docs not necessarily
prove that the Punjab is the most patriotic of the
provinces. In tliis vast country of ours there
are many professions. Soldiering is one of them.
These professionals will lend their services to
whomsoever will pay them good wages and enough
practice for their profession. Therefore, in my
opinion, Sir Sikandar can prove no more than that
the Punjab has the pride of place so far as the
recruiting ground for the British is concerned. But
the Punjabi soldier is as much intersted in the issue
as the black soldiers trained by General Franc®
were interested in his politics or in his ambition.
They served him because of the pay and the practice
in the use of arms which he offered them. But
politically speaking, if Sir Sikandar can claim that
ninetynine per cent of the Punjab is for participa-
tion in the war, it can be claimed wdth much greater
force perhaps that ninetynine per cent of the seven
provinces where the Congress has an overwhelming
majority are against such participation. Only I do
not want to advance any such argument. I suggest
that those who want and those who do not want
to participate in the war may follow their respec-
tive courses without being acclaimed as patriots.
It may well be left to the historian of the future
to pronounce judgment.
Australian Soldiers
The Mayor of Bombay has sent me a letter com-
plaining of my reference to him as if he had
neglected his duty as the first citizen of Bombay.
He tells me too that he acted in the promptest
manner possible and entered into correspondence
with the Government. As a responsible citizen he
could not rush to the Press or inform the public
what he was doing. All this is creditable to the
Mayor. I know him to be businesslike and anxious
to render service without fuss. But it is strange
that he lias read a meaning into my writing which
the context shows I could not have meant. I have
put to him the same question that I have put to
all the other parties concerned. Surely I must not
be taken to have cast any reflection on any single
one of them. For aught I know they might have
taken effective steps without niy warning. When
a series of complaints came to me from various
sources I was bound to draw attention to them
and show how, from a private citizen to the
Governor, the various units in a society would
be expected to act in emergencies of the character
described by me. The latter might, if not handled
effectively and in time, give rise to a first class
crisis ending in an exhibition of racial passions
of a most undesirable type.
I am happy, therefore, to note that almost all
parties seem to have acted as they should- have. A
college girl, who was among the first to complain
to me, tells me that, whilst there is no doubt about
the general truth of the complaints, the improper
behaviour stopped after a few days. She- tells me
that it had stopped altogether before my writing
appeared in the Press. Whilst, therefore, I am not
sorry for what I wrote, as I should have in the
public interest, it gives me as much pleasure to
note that the mischief was nipped in the bud, as it
had caused me pain to give publicity to it. I am
no believer in a hush hush policy. Such incidents,
if they are not to be repeated, demand publicity
and an effective and immediate remedy.
Jaipur
Seth Jamnalalji is trying to cut his way through
a thick forest of difficulties in Jaipur. He had
thought that after a settlement, to which he had
contributed not a little and which had brought
much credit to the State and freedom from embar-
rassment, he would have fair weather and smooth
sailing. But such was not to be the case. In Raja
Gyan Nath he has to face a Prime Minister who,
according to Sethji, is thoroughly unreliable and
reactionary. He has failed to give any satisfaction
to the long-suffering ryots of Jaipur. He has put
back the hands of the clock of progress, and there
is an agitation for his removal and the appointment
of a Minister who would be responsive to public
opinion. It is the duty of the Paramount Power
to see to it that when it imposes a Minister on a
Prince, it gives one who would be sympathetic to
public demands. It is time to remove him when
he is more autocratic than the Prince in whose
name he is supposed to administer the State.
Sevagram, 9-10-40 M. K. G.
Mahatma Gandhi
By S. Radhakrishnan. (New Edition) Rs. 5-10-0
Postage 8 As. Available at Harijan office-Poona 4*
The Power of Non-violence by Richard B. Gregg,
Rs. 24-7 As. postage. AvSiilable at Harijan office-
Poona 4
322
HAEIJAIST
[ October 13, 1940
FASTING IN SATYAGEAHA
(By M. K. GandhO
I note that in connection with the imminent
satyagraha the possibility of my fasting has been
hinted at in the papers. Pandit Malaviyaji has a
soft corner for me. He is always deeply concerned
about my health, my politics, and my morals. V/c
have differences of opinion, but our love cheerfully
stands the strain. The day before I left Sevagram
for Simla I received a letter from him, urging me
to avoid at all cost the reported fast.
I have to admit that there is a certain measure
of truth in the report. I have told my friends of
the Working Committee of my premonition that I
may have to undertake one more fast during my
life, and that this may even take place sooner than
I had thought. But the fact is that so far as I
can remember I have never undertaken a single
one of my public fasts with any premeditation on
my part. All my fasts have come to me on the
spur of the moment, gifts from God as I have
called them. Their results have been invariably
good. And in any event I have no regrets regard-
ing them. I hope, therefore, that readers will
entertain no anxiety on reading these lines. If God
has a fast in store for me, it will surely come
and it will bring good in its wake. In all things
His will be done.
Now what is the place of fasting in satyagraha?
Nowadays quite a number of fasts arc undertaken
in the name of satyagralia. Many of the known
fasts have been meaningless, many may be said to
have been impure. Fasting is a fiery weapon. It
has its own science. No one, as far as I am aware,
has a perfect knowledge of it. Unscientific experi-
mentation with it is bound to be harmful to the
one v/ho fasts, and it may even harm the cause
espoused. No one who has not earned the right
to do so should, therefore, use this weapon. A
fast may only be undertaken by him who is asso-
ciated with the person against whom he fasts.
The latter must be directly connected with the
purpose for which the fast is being undertaken,
Bhagat Fulsinghji’s recent fast was such a one.
He was closely connected with the people of
Moth village; he had served the Harijans of the
place too. The wrong that was being enacted was
done by the villagers to the Harijans. When every
means of obtaining justice had failed there was
no option left for a man like Fulsinghji except to
resort to fasting. He did and succeeded. Success
or failure depends entirely on the will of God and
is not relevant to the issue under discussion.
All my public fasts have been of this category.
Out of all of them perhaps there -is most to be
leairnt from the Rajkot one. It has been roundly
condemned by many people. Originally it was pure
and necessary. The blemish crept in when I asked
the Viceroy to intervene. Had I not done so, I
am convinced that its result would have been
brilliant. Even as it was, the result was a victory
for the cause. Because God wanted to open my
eyes, he took the bread out of my mouth, so, to
speak. The Rajkot fast is thus a useful study for
the satyagrahi. In regard to its necessity there is
no doubt, assuming that the principles for fasting
which I have laid down are accepted. The
important thing to note about it is how a pure
undertaking can become tainted owing to lack
of watchfulness on the part of the doer. There
can be no room for selfishness, anger, lack of
faith, or impatience in a pure fast. It is no
exaggeration to admit that all these defects crept
into my Rajkot fast. My selfishness lay in the
fact that inasmuch as its being given up depended
on ccrtaiii conditions being fulfilied by the late
Thakorc Saheb, I had in me the selfish desire
for the realisation of the fruit of my labour. If
there had been no anger in me, I Vvould not have
looked to the Viceroy for assistance. My love
should have deterred me from doing so. For if he
was really as a son to me, why should I have
complained about him to his overlord? I betrayed
want of faith in that I thought the Tliakore Saheb
would noc be melted by my love and I was im-
patient to break the fast. All these shortcomings
were bound to make my fasc impure. It would be
irrelevant here to ponder over the many results
of the Rajkot fast, and I therefore refrain from
doing so. But we have learnt how infinitely watch-
ful and prayerful he who fasts has to be and how
even a little carelessness can damage a good cause.
It is now apparent that in addition to truth and
non-violence a satyagrahi should have the con-
fidence that, God will grant him the necessary
strength and that, if there is the slightest impurity
m the fast, he will not hesitate to renounce it at
once. Infinite patience, firm resolve, single-minded-
ness of purpose, perfect calm, and no anger must
of necessity be there. But since it is impossible
for a person to develop all these qualities all ar
once, no one who has not devoted himself to
following the laws of ahimsa should undertake
a satyagrahi fast.
I should like readers to note that I have not
here dealt with fasts undertaken for bodily or
spiritual purification. Nature cure doctors should
be consulted for the former. The greatest of sinners
can undertake the latter. And for this type of fast
we possess a varitablc mine of literature. Fasts for
spiritual purification have really been forgotten in
our day. If they are ever undertaken, they are
either purely imitative or merelyj for the sake of
tradition, and we cannot therefore derive the benefit
from them that we should. Those who want to
go in for a satyagrahi fast should certainly possess
some personal experience of fasts for spiritual puri-
fication. Fasts for ridding the body of impui*itics
are also beneficial. In the end, of course, there is
only one basis of the whole ideal of fasting, and
that is purification. Sevagram, 8-10-40
( Translated from Hindustani)
Autobiography
Gandhiji’s The Story of My Experiments with TruLlio
Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
Gandhi j Is Satyagraha in South Africa Ks. 4-S- + 9ASn
Available at Harijan Office — Poona 4
HARIJAN
323
Octobkh 13, 1040 ]
MORK ABOUT THE SIMLA VISIT
( By M. K. Gandhi )
In die correspondence between H. E. the Viceroy
and myselF announcing the breakdown in the talks,
I have said in niy letter that I would make a
public statement covering matters not referred to
in rny letter.
Before I do so I think it is necessary for
my purpose to say a few words regar'-ling* Lord
Linlithgow. He is straight in his talk, rdways
deliberate, and economical in his language. He is
never equivocal, never leaves you in doubt as to
his meaning. He conveys the most unpalatable
decisions with a calmness and courtesy;; which,
for the moment, make you think that you have
heard no harsh or hard decision. He listens to
your argument with a patience and attention I
have never known any other Viceroy or high
functionary to show in an equal measure. He is
never ruffled and never discourteous. With all
tliis, however, he is not to be easily moved from
his posifion. He meets you with his decision on
the matter under discussion already made. He
takes care not to let you think that it is so, but
there is no doubt about it that his decision is un-
changeable. He is not receptive. He has amazing
confidence in the correctness of his judgment. He
docs not believe in a gentleman s or any other
agreement. I have ahvays felt that after the
Gandhi-Irwin Pact Br’tish satraps decided that
there should be no more such pacts. V/liatcvcr
tl'iey wanted to do, they should Jo independently.
It shows either a Iiigh sense of justice or boundless
self-assurance. I tliink it is the latter. He and I
have become friends never to be parted, be the
differences between us as great as they can be.
Holding such an opinion about the Viceroy, it
pains me to have to relate what I must of my
imp'-cssion of the talks which have ended in a
divergence which, in my opinion, v/ns ^/iiolly
avoidable. Acceptance of my proposal would have
been no less h««ncficial to England than to India.
I went to Simla in the capacity of a representa-
tive and as a friend. As a friend I presented him
with my doubts as to certain acts of the British
Government. To have them dissolved was necessary
to enable me to determine my mental attitude
which to me is more than any visible act. I felt
that the putting up by the Viceroy, and then the
Secretary of State, of want of agreement by the
Congress with the Princes, the Muslim' League
and even the Scheduled Classes as a barrier to
the British recognition of India’s right to freedom
was more than unjust to the Congress and the
[iidi'in people. I told the Viceroy that these three
represented class or communal interests, whereas
the Congress represented no particular class. .-Jit
v/as a purely national organisation striving- to
represent India as a whole; and therefore the -Con-
gress had always maintained that it would abide by
the verdict of a hmtional assembly elected on ■ the
basis of the broadest franchise. It had further
declared its intention to abide by the votejof the
separate Muslim electorate, so far as special
Muslim rights were concerned. Therefore it was
wrong to speak as if Muslim rights needed special
safeguards as against the Congress. The same
thing applied to the Sikhs.
The Princes of the present day were a creation
of the British Government to subserve British
interest. As against the plea that the British
were bound by special treaty obligations, I con-
tended that the Congress did not ask the British
Government to disregard them. Only they could
not be used to bar Indian progress, and it was
wholly wrong to expect the Congress to produce
an agreement with them. The Princes were not
like other parties free to conclude any agreement
with the Congress even if they wished. Moreover,
the treaties, if they oblige the British Government
to protect the Princes, equally compel them to
protect the rights of the people. But it has been
abundantly proved that the British had rarely
interfered with the Princes purely on behalf of
the people. If they had been as careful of the
peoples’ right as they were bound by the treaties
to be, the people’s condition would not have been
as miserable as it is today. Had they been true
to the treaties of their own making, the people
of States India should be more advanced than
those of British India. I -cited some telling
illustrations of this neglect of duty.
The introduction of the Scheduled Classes in
the controversy has made the unreality of the case
of the British Government doubly unreal. They
know that these are the special care of the Con-
gress, and that the Congress is infinitely more
capable of guarding their interests than the British
Government. Moreover, the Scheduled Classes are
divided into as many castes as the Caste Hindu
society. No single scheduled class member could
possibly and truthfully represent the innumerable
castes.
I had sought the interview with the Viceroy to
see if my interpretation of the British argument
had any flaw, I failed to get any satisfaction on
the points raised. The Viceroy would not be
drawn into a discussion. I can have no grievance
about his disinclination to enter into any argu-
ment. He had every right to rely upon the fact
that that was a matter of high policy not admit-
ting of argument. There is a certain cold reserve
about the British ofiScial world which gives them
their strength and isolation from surroundings and
facts. They do not want to be too frank. They
politely refuse to enter into embarrassing argu-
ment. They leave you to draw what inferences
you like while they continue to maintain their
inflexible attitude. I suppose that is what is meant
by the steel frame. For me, this side of British
policy has been the least attractive. I had hoped,
against the warning of friends, that I might be
able to break through this steel wall of reserve
and get at the naked truth. But the imperialist
Britisher is firmly fixed in his saddle.
Nevertheless, I will not accept defeat. I must
strive to have the truth admitted by the British
people that the bar to India’s freedom lies not
in the Congress or any other party’s inability to
324
HARIJAN
[ October 13, 1940
produce an agreement which is in its nature
impossible, but that it undoubtedly lies in the
British disinclination to do the obviously right
thing.
The unreality of the British reasons for refusal
to treat India as a free country was not my only
grouse. I drew the Viceroy's attention to certain
irregularities in the prosecution of the war policy.
There was agreement between us that there should
be no compulsion as to war contributions. He has
promised to examine all cases of hardship and
all other* difficulties. My purpose was to leave no
ground for misunderstanding and to fight, if there
w^as to be a fight, only on well-defined issues and
without bitterness. I want to enter upon the fight
with the hope that its very fairness will compel
the recognition that India deserves better treat-
ment, not merely from the British but from all
the nations of the earth.
Lest it might be said that the Congress fights
because it has failed to get power, I told His
Excellency in the plainest words possible that the
Congress had no desire to mount to power at the
expense of a single national interest. It seeks no
power save for the whole nation. Therefore he
will have no opposition from the Congress if he
forms a Cabinet composed of representatives of
different parties. The Congress would be content
to be in opposition so far as the war effort is con-
cerned and so long as the machinery of Government
has to subserve Imperialist ends. The immediate issue
is not independence. The immediate issue is the
right of existence, i. e. the right of self-expression
which, broadly put, means free speech. This the
Congress wants not merely for itself, but for all,
the only restraint being complete observance of
non-violence. I hold that that condition answers
all the difficulties by whomsoever raised.
Seva gram, 5-10-40
A RIGHTEOUS FAST
Shri Viyogi Hari has written an account for
Hcui'ijansevak of a fast recently undertaken by
Bhagat Fulsingh on behalf of water-bereft Harijans
in a village in Hissar District. The following is a
summary of it :
Moth is a village composed of 300 houses of
Rangar Jats (Mussalmans) and 200 of Caste Hindus
and others. Most of the village is owned by Sir
Chhajju Ram who recently gave permission to the
Harijans to construct a well for themselves on a
piece of common ground. The Harijans in this
locality are hard put to it for their drinking water-
supply. -.A water carrier usually pours water into
their vessels* from a respectful distance, and in
return for this service the Harijans give him either
a quarter Jor half a seer of grain. The well was
begun to* be made nearly four months ago, but
owing to the?strong opposition of Caste Hindus and
Mmssalmans its construction had to be abandoned.
The Harijans could get no redress in spite of efforts
at persuasion by Punjab leaders and the Harijan
Sevak Sangh.
On 2nd September last Bhagar Fulsingh went to
the village and tried his utmost to get the obstruc-
tionists to listen to reason. But even his appeals
on humanitarian grounds fell on deaf cars. He
therefore resolved to fast, if necessary to death.
He was turned out forcibly from the village on
the fourth day of the fast, but continued it in a
neighbouring village where he was received with
affection. Shri Viyogi Hari, who saw Fulsinghji
on the 15th day of the fast, says that his face was
beaming with joy and there was no anger or
bitterness visible. The fast was impelled by a firm
religious conviction. Fulsinghji wanted those in
sympathy with him to try to win over the Rangars
and others with love so that they might feel that
they were as blood brothers. He advised no one
who was angry to go to Moth. Those who went
there should carry no weapons, not even a stick,
and it would be better for only those above 50
years of age to go. No harsh words were to be used.
In this way alone, lie felt, they would help him
and also help tiic cause of communal unity which
was so essential in these troublous times. He was
confident that God would see liim through the trial.
And indeed his wonderful faith did save him
and the hearts of the obstructionists were melted.
Permission for the well work to be continued iias
been obtained. Fulsinghji was carried in a doolie
and broke the fast in Moth. One of the Mussalman
brothers who had helped to evict him gave him
the orange juice witlt which he broke it. The
incident is a proof of how no-anger can conquer
anger. Fulsinghji has appealed to the villagers to
lift entirely the existing ban on Harijans in regard to
drawing water. Let us hope his appeal will go home.
It is interesting to know that Fulsinghji was a
Patwari, a native of a village in Rohtak District.
Like most officials of this type he used to take
bribes until he came under the influence of the
late Swami Shraddhanandji when he took a vow to
refrain from doing so in future and actually resigned
his post. On resignation he sold all his property
and thereby restored to every man his due. The
sum total was Rs. 4,500, and to the man VN^hom he
had actually beaten when he was a Patwari he
offered a public apology Bhagatji runs a boys’
school in one of the villages in his district, while lii?
daughter is conducting a girls school in another place.
Sevagram, 6-10-40 A. K.
CONTENTS
Two Thought-provoking
Lkttkrs
Physical Training and
Ahimsa
Hyderabad
Fasting in Satyagraha
More about the Simla
Visit
A Righteous Fast
Notes :
Thanks
‘ A Stab in the Back ’ ?
Australian Soldiers
Jaipur
PAGE
M. K. Gandhi 317
M. K. Gandhi 318
M. K. Gandhi 320
M. K. Gandhi 322
M. K. Gandhi 323
A. K. 324
M. K. G. 321
M. K. G. 321
M. K. G. 321
M. K. G. 321
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VoL, Vlir, No. 36 ] POONA “ SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20. 1940 . [ ONE ANNA
AN ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE
In a few chosen phrases Gandhiji has explained
why he has selected Shri Vinoba as the first
satyagrahi. It is impossible to improve on that
thumb-nail sketch. But it may not be inappro-
priate to add a few more facts about his busy
life, in which all the twentyfour hours of the day
have been given to activity of prayerful service
which alone, in his opinion, can take one to self--
realisation. It is this that makes of his sacrifice
“a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God”.
Within three years of his joining the Satyagraha
Ashram at Sabarmati he was invited by Shri
Jamnalalji to be at the head of the only branch of
the Ashram at Wardha which he had opened.
Vinoba*s services were lent by Gandhiji, and wheri^
he went there he chose as his co-workers people
who were pledged to a strict observance of the
vows. In 1923 he threw himself heart and soul'
into the Nagpur Flag Satyagraha- movement, and
distinguished himself as a model prisoner. After a
visit to Nagpur Shri Rajagopalachari wrote about
Shri Vinoba : *
*‘Look at Vinoba, gentle as an angel, whose soaring
spirit has reached the heights of scholarship, philosophy
and religion, and yet whose humility is so genuine and
successful that no official who does not know him can
discover his greatness. He breaks his stone metal
according to the ‘class’ the jailor has put him in, and’
no one knows the physical torture he silently bears.'
But we at the prison gate who heard about the treat-
ment accorded to him gave way to an involuntary
shudder.”
In the same issue .of Young India 17 years ago
I wrote a long article about him from which I.
condense the following:
“You may stay days and days with him without
knowing him, and even when you know him you only
begin to know him. You meet with a reserve which
you cannot easily break. He does not talk much,
rarely does he say anything about himself. And yet
if you could get at the bottom of his profound
depths, you are sure to exclaim, ‘ Nowhere have
I struck such treasures.’ I do not think there is
anyone in the C. P. Jails today who can be compared
to Vinoba with his sturdy asceticism, his profound reli-
gious and philosophic learning, his matchless power of
penance and self-discipline, and a rare humility which
probably is a product of all the rest. We hear of the
grim determination of the child Dhruva to realise God,
the simple faith, unbending before all odds, of the boy
Prahlad, and of the rare strength of the lad Nachiketas
marching to the God of Death to be devoured up, and
we wonder what these spiritual prodigies must have
been like. You see Vinoba and you will not find it
difficult to imagine any one of them doing the things
they did.
In 1917 when Mr. Andrews was at the Ashram I
remember Gandhiji describing to him Vinoba in these
terms : ‘ He is one of the few pearls in the Ashram.
They -do not come, like others, to be blessed by the
Ashram but to bless it, not to receive, but to give.’
He devoted the first eight months in the 'Ashram to
self-discipline — giving eight hours in the kitchen and
doing scavenging work. Not a thought crossed his
brain that his scholarship would rust away.
Early in his life he decided that a life of brahma-
charya is essential to a life of service. His father
wanted him to be a barrister or a big chemist for
which he wanted to send him to Germany. He was
set to learn French, therefore, so that it may be useful
to him abroad. But on leaving home, apparently to
appear for , his intermediate examination, he left for
Benares, and! it was long afterwards through the C.I.D.
that his father learnt that he had fled there. He
devoted all his time to a study, of Sanskrit, especially
the Gita and the Upanishads. Though Gandhiji said
that he had gone to the Ashram to give and not to-
receive, this is what Vinoba said in a talk: ‘Only I
can know what I have got in the Ashram. It was an
early ambition of mine to distinguish myself by a
violent deed in the service of the country. But Bapu
cured me of’ that ambition.- It is he who extinguished’
the volcano of anger and other “passion in me.
I have been progressing every day of my life in the
Ashram. Eveiy year I have b^n making’ one of the
Mahavratas my own.*
In one of his articles in Maharashtra Dhdrina, a
Marathi monthly issued by him from Wardha, he thus
explained Samartha Ramdas’, and incidentally his own,
philosophy of life : '
‘We sleep, we walk, we work, we live and we die«'
All these' are passive processes. Do we have sleep, or
does the sleep devour us ? We live because we cannot
die, and die as soon as we cannot exist. Panini has
said swatantrah karta — the ‘subject’ is independent •
But there. is', no independence in any one of our acts.
None of our acts is,' therefore, active, it is all passive.
Is that life worth living ? Shri Ramdas Swami wanted to
teach independent action — all action in the active mood,
not in. the passive; he wanted to die to flesh before his
death, he wanted liberty, and therefore he left home and
all, and told the youth of the world to resort to life in
the hermitages in the prime of their youth. He prac-
tised the Bhagawai Dharma in his childhood and youth,
like Prahlad; and set an. example to Maharashtra.'
326
HABIJAN
[ October 20, 1940
And look at his way of study. ‘ I have read a lot of
Sanskrit,’ he says, ‘but I have not read the ShakuntczL
The speech of the gods, which is the name of Sanskrit,
is for freedom — Moksha — not for intellectual delight
and luxury. I learnt Sanskrit not to read Shakuntal,
but to learn the Gita, Vedas, Upanishads, Brahma-
sutras; for things that make for freedom of the soul,
and not for poetry and literature. Philosophy and
mathematics are my subjects, not literature.”
That was what I wrote 17 years ago, and the
interval has been but a demonstration of the way
in which he has translated his principles into
practice, pressed all his philosophy and mathe-
matics into the aid of the constructive programme
which he has believed to be the external symbol
of non-violence. He has trained under him
students who are masters of the science and art
of khadi-making, he has trained workers who have
been content with a miserable pittance to bury
themselves in villages working the constructive
programme, and he has given, as Gandhiji has said,
an ideal servant to the lepers. ‘Proficiency in all
action’ is the Gita’s definition of yoga, and every-
thing that Vinoba has done proves that he is one
who has mastered that yoga. An ideal spinner,
both on the wheel and the takli and with both
the left and the right hands, he is an ideal village
worker. Though highly intellectual, the villagers
feel completely at home with him and are
enraptured by his simple perfervid eloquence full
of telling homely parables and illustrations. He
has produced a Marathi translation of the Gita in
parallel verse which reproduces the haunting music
of the original in an amazing degree, and over a
hundred thousand copies of it have been sold in
Maharashtra. While carrying on in the village of
Pavnar the experiment of the standard spinning
wage, he found time to devote five hours each day
to the study of the Quran in the original, and
when yesterday Gandhiji asked him to repeat
Al Fateha before the Maulana he did so with a
pronunciation and intonation which the Maulana
skid were flawless.
It is to such a one that the honour has come
of being the first satyagrahi in a campaign that
Gandhiji will strivjs to make the most unsullied
from the point of view of non-violence. To be
chosen for the honour is a great thing; to have
been chosen without having ever desired it is
greater still.
' Sevagram, 16-10-40 M. D.
Andrews Memorial Fund
( Received at -the Harijan Office )
Shri Shankar, Kumbakonam Rs. 3
„ Madhavdas Nenumal, Badin 5
An admirer, Bombay 15
Shri V. P, Limaye, Poona 100
•Through Shri Nanabhai Bhatt, Ambla 10
Shri M. S. Desai, Gadhsisa 5
„ Ghelabhai Hathibhai, Bombay 10
An admirer, Baroda 50
Total Rs. 198
THE LIBERTY WE WANT
Unser Kampf (Our Struggle) is the title fashion-
ed after Hitler’s “Mein Kampf' (My Struggle)
of a book by Sir Richard Acland, M. P., a baron
belonging to a distinguished English family that
has fought on the side of the people the battle
for their liberty. In this Penguin Special the author
pleads for “a complete change in our hearts”,
if England is still to be turned back from the road
to ruin. “If we have to fight for twenty years, we
can fight, we can pay, we can face the sacrifice,”
say some of the war-mongers. But Sir Richard
Acland asks: “Who is going to pay? What are
the sacrifices going to be? What guarantee have
we that they will be worth while? Is there no
other way?” And pace The Times of India which
expressed its surprise the other day at Gandhiji’s
statement that the British people did not know
what they were fighting for. Sir Richard Acland
asks :
“ For what are we asked to make these sacrifices ?
What is the moral stimulus which is to drive our
people on to bear these sacrifices ? We are fighting
against something which is hellish enough in all con-
science, and that will carry us a long way* To oppose
this thing our people will suffer much. But is this
enough ? What, after all, are we fighting and sacri-
ficing for ? If we could be quite certain that all
this suffering would bring us something which would
be worth while, and if there was no other alternative
but to endure it, then there is no doubt that as a
people we could face it. But nobody has yet given us
any sort of assurance that all this suffering is going to
lead to anything better tlian we know today.”
He suggests a new and a better way, a ‘ new
morality’ by which humanity can be saved from
this hedious massacre, and he appeals to every
Britisher to throw in “ the whole of your strength,
the whole of your mind, the whole of your
courage” to work along the new way he has tried
to show.
His new way consists in throwing overboard
monopoly capitalism; in throwing away the hypo-
critical claim that “we are fighting from the
bigness of our hearts in order to restrain aggression
and restore Poland, when we have done nothing
to restrain aggression or to restore Manchuria,
Abyssinia, Spain, China, Austria, Czechoslovakia,
Lithuania or Albania; ” in disarming and accepting
and enforcing the principle of common ownership
by means of an international organisation working
out the manufacturing costs of different commodi-
ties and directing various Governments what com-
modities to concentrate on, what to export, and
what to import; in banishing all armies, navies,
and air forces owned by individual countries; in
having an international armed force; in a new
Cabinet with a changed heart and determined to
carry out the new plan, and having achieved self-
purification (I am using a word familiar to us)
to appeal to the Germans to stop the War.
I will not go into the details of this plan, not at
any rate in this article. Two details I will mention.
The authot declares;
October 20, 1940 ] HARIJAlsr 327
ptn'KuiicIc the i>eopIe of Germany that
we fifj-htin';' to free Europe unless we set out at
o«ce to free India, "i'hoy all believe we are fighting to
prescr\'o our C'olonial possessions and theirs unless we
iiet out at onve to transfer these possessions to the
only people who have any right to them. They will be-
lieve we are lighting to hold them in military subjection
unless we set out at once to create a system in which
no one can hold anyone in military subjection. They
will believe we are fighting to impoverish the workers
of all Europe for the benefit of our financiers and
industrialists unless we set out at once to create a
system in which no industrialists or financiers can
impoverish any workers.’*
Let us back our words and ideas by deeds and
they will surely have eflfect, says the author. How,
he asks, did Hitler succeed when he set out to
rearm Germany and make her master of Europe?
Because he had vision, he had will, and the courage
to translate his thought into deed. It may have
been a task directed to dire results. But, “ can we
not find, for good, the same courage in the face
of diflSculties which he found for evil? If not,
what are the chances of defeating him ? ”
For India he suggests the appointment
“as Secretary of State and as Viceroy two men
who are known to be determined that British economic
and political control in India shall end at the earliest
possible moment. Community problems in India no
doubt present difficulties which are very useful to those
who do not desire to abandon our control. But in the
hands of men determined that they should be solved
and backed by a Government equally determined, they
would be overcome. The fact must be faced that the
new Viceroy would have to encounter the fierce opposi-
tion of all those Indians who enjoy the highest regards
of the present order, just as we should at borne. This
opposition would have to be overcome.*’
How is the “new morality” to begin, who is to
disarm, who is to start the process of self-purifica-
tion? “What we need now is the adoption,” says
the author, “in our public and political life, of
those elementary ethical principles to which we
have long paid lip-service in our churches. Our
change of heart must be translated into action at
once... If we cannot persuade all men at once to
accept our new morality, at least we shall make
sure that the destiny of our nation and of mankind
is in the hands of those who do accept it, and not
in the hands of those who do not.” And then he
goes on to suggest a number of concrete measures
to be adopted — two I have already mentioned — by
the new Government, and an appeal to be made
by it to the German people. Two small para-
graphs from this suggested appeal I shall allow
myself to quote:
“All arms in the exclusive possession of separate
nations we desire to destroy. We ask you to send
your people to us to watch us destroy our own arras.
We ask that our people shall come over to watch you
destroy yours.” ■
' And :
“ If we beat you, what sliall we gain ? You will
fight again, and your youngest children, those on
whom all your hopes are fixed, will die as we and -you
are dying now. If you beat us, what will you gain ?
We shall fight you in the future, and our youngest
children, on whom we fix our hopes, will die in killing
yours.”
But a Government with a changed heart has yet
to come into being. To do so Sir Richard suggests
no rebellion, no violently aggressive propaganda.
What part will you play, the author asks every
Briton.
“ Will you take your part in the struggle to create
the i^rill for this early peace and this new world ? Will
you this week persuade ten more people to understand
the position in which we find ourselves ? «...
If you mean to take the courageous course, then take
courage. Reject the taunts of those who will tell you
that you are diverting the nation from its war effort''
This last sentence in Sir Richard Acland’s appeal
is worth noting. There is no question of diverting
the nation from its war effort, no question of
embarrassing Government, to use the phrase we are
using here — for there is no violence there. Accord
to us the same liberty to work for a new order
as that you are exercising in order to march the
nation to its doom.
Studied in this light the Bombay resolution and
Gandhiji’s mission to the Viceroy were but a
corollary to his appeal to every Briton, which has
a close parallel in Sir Richard’s appeal (made, by
the way, in point of time, slightly earlier than
Gandhiji’s appeal, for his book was published in
February 1940.)
When we come to think of it, it is not only a
right we claim, it is a sacred duty we have to
perform. For if we do not speak out, if we do
not proclaim against the ruinous process, we are
being guilty of abetting the crime and the outrage
that the present order and the war that is being
fought to bolster it up constitute.
Sir Richard Acland describes in a chapter on
‘Liberty’ how the Conservative Party that happens
to rule Britain is “chiselling away into our liber-
ties”; how by various potent means — the Law
Courts, the Police, and the Army — they are depriv-
ing men of their liberties; how in fact the resour-
ces of those who are interested in maintaining the
present order are being used to curtail the
liberties of those who are opposed to that order.
That, some of our reactionaries here will say,
makes it clear why in India we cannot expect to
enjoy more liberty than people in England. It
does not follow so’ easily. The Conservative Party
is elected there by a majority of their own people,
and speaks and acts in the name of the people.
Here the Government is an alien imposition with
no right but that of force to speak on behalf of
our people. There may be some excuse there for
the ‘chiselling away’ into the people’s liberties.
Here there is none whatsoever. Day in and day
out the pretence is being maintained and proclaim-
ed to the world that India is with -Britain in this
War with a shamelessness of which the only excuse
#>is a violent war. Are we to go on believing when
we are told by one interested in maintaining
328
[ OCTOBEE 20, 1940
the present order that “at least 99 per cent of the
people” of the Punjab want to participate in this
war?
Sir Richard’s book is the expression of the
righteous indignation of a soul who is outraged by
the action of a section of his countrymen. What
the Congress claims is the liberty to exercise its
right, or as I have shown, to perform its duty to
speak out against Indians being drawn into a war
which has no purpose for them and which means
the moral and material ruin of the nation. If the
right is not accorded, the duty has to He perform-
ed, cost what it may. And all matters of duty
are matters of conscience.
Calcutta, 3-10-40 M. D.
‘fjcLtijnn
Oct. 20
■
1940
A BRITISH ENDORSEMENT
(By M.K. Gandhi )
Mr. Stephen J. Thorne, Secretary to the Society
of- Friends, sends me the following letter:
“ We, a group of Friends, want to send you our
deep gratitude for your impressive appeal to every
Briton to adopt the way of non-violence and bring
about a cessation of hostilities. We drew together
immediately on receiving the short version of your
statement, and were later able to obtain a fuller text*
■ You have received through the Viceroy the response
of the British Government to your proffer of help, a
response that from your knowledge of the situation you
will easily understand. To most Britons the call to
throw down their arms in a moment of supreme
national peril and in face of imminent aggression is
indistinguishable from cowardice and reason; it is an
invitation to save their lives by the surrender of
principles of liberty and justice that are dearer than
life itself. But to those of us who in the peace move-
ment share your faith in non-violence, you present a
tremendous challenge. Few of us are fully prepared to
stand up to it; and we are conscious of our own failure
to convince our fellow countrymen of the value and
practicability of this “more excellent Way”. The
technique of non-violent resistance as you have practis-
ed it is little understood in the West; especially in its
positive and reconciling sense; and for that reason
apart from any other, your appeal has. not yet met
with any wide response.
Though the British Government’s reply must have
been disappointing, we are anxious to make full use of
your offered help. .Your appeal gave expression to a
spirit that is moving, we are certain, in the hearts of
Your friends sincerely,
Horace G. Alexander Percy W. Bartlett
Anna Bidder W. Maude Brayshaw
Robert Davis A. Ruth Fry
Carl Helth Elizabeth Fox Howard
James H. Hudson Francis E. Pollard
J. CUTHBERT WiGHAM ALEXANDER C. WiLSON
PS. The Council of Christian Pacifist Groups
associates itself with this letter, and looks forward to
an early opportunity of discussing the deep issues
involved.”
I am thankful to the signatories for their sup-
port of my appeal. I can assure them that immedia-
tely I see the psychological moment I shall act
up to the signatories’ expectation that I should
address the spiritual leaders of the world. It is
quite evident that the very thoroughness of the
Nazi method makes them think that nothing but
counter-violence can check the terror. I have
suggested that counter-violence can only result in
further brutalisation of human nature. Drastic
diseases require drastic remedies. In this instance
nothing but non-violence can cure Nazi violence.
Sevagram, 16-10-40
Two Points of View
The publication of .the correspondence between
the Mayor of Bombay and H. E. the Governor on
the behaviour of the troops from Australia andhjew
Zealand is proof of the fact that the Mayor lost
no time in writing to tj. E. the Governor, nor did
the latter in responding to the Mayor’s warning.
It is also a striking illustration of the same thing
appearing contrariwise when looked at from differ-
ent angles of vision. The English mind excuses in
soldiers many things which would be inexcusable
in an ordinary citizen. In India the soldier is
regarded as a nuisance to be tolerated. His pranks
are hardly appreciated. It is therefore a matter
of pity that the paragraph defending the be-
haviour complained of should have found place
in a letter which is otherwise admirable as show-
ing prompt attention to the Mayor’s studiously
courteous and temperate letter. The sheaf of
correspondence received by me docs not show that
my correspondents took the behaviour lightly.
The girls who came in for the attention of the
troops were too pure not to resent the molestation
which fell to their lot. I have never been able to
understand why the art of killing should receive
indulgence which men going through harder trials
than soldiers never claim nor receive.
.Sevagram, 16-10-40 M. K. G.
Autobiography
Gandhiji’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Price Rs. 4. Postage 10 As. extra.
men all over the world. We believe that it would be
a step forward if you were willing to address a further
message to certain of the spiritual leaders of the world,
urging them to act together in taking hold of the
situation before the winter brings fresh disaster. .
. We hope you will maintain the closest contact with
us, sending direct the full text of anything you may
say in the days ahead.
, Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Dasgupta
.Written at Gandhiji’s request. He hopes every
vUlage worker will possess a copy. 1440 pages, 18
chapters. Copious Index of 32 pages. 216 illustrations.
Price Rs. 5 cloth-bound; Rs. 6. By V. P. P. Rs. 6.
leather-bound;Rs. 7. By V. P. P. Available at Harijan
office — Poona 4.
October ^o, 1940 1 HAEIJAN 329
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
(,By M. K. Gandhi)
I have had three days’ discussion with the
Working Committee. During it I unfolded my
plan of civil disobedience in so far as I was able
to envisage it. Although I have sole charge of
the campaign I could not think of taking the first
step without consultation with the members of
the Working Committee. In non-violent action
one has to carry the co-workers with one through
the mind and the heart. There is no other way
to enforce discipline or obedience to instructions.
I must admit that it was not plain sailing for me.
There w,as stubborn dissent from two members. I
•tried ha^d to carry conviction to them but I fear
I failed. They will, however, yield obedience so
far as it is possible for them for the sake of
discipline. The difference of opinion solely centr-
ed round the quantity of civil disobedience and
the restrictions with which it was hedged.
I disclose this part of the discussion to show
that my plan will fall short of the expectations
of those whom the dissenters represent. I would
simply say to them, “Wait patiently and see what
happens. Carry out instructions to the best of
.your ability. Do nothing to thwart the plan. If
your reason rebels against it, you will serve the
•cause by seceding and educating the people along
your own lines. That would be straight, brave
and stimulating in that the people will learn to
appraise the value of different methods. You will
• cause confusion by preaching from the Congress
.platform anything contrary to the official pro-
gramme, especially when the whole organisation
becomes like an army. It matters little whether
one person offers civil disobedience or many. The
rest have to render such support as they may be
called upon to do.”
The plan is simply this. Direct action will be
commenced by Shri Vinoba Bhave and for the
time being confined to him only. And since it is
to be confined to individual civil disobedience and
that too of him only, it will be so conducted by
him as to exclude others directly or indirectly.
But since it is concerned with freedom of speech
the public will be involved to an extent. It is
ropen to them cither to listen to him or not.
But much will depend upon what the Govern-
ment wish to do. In spite of all attempt to con-
fine civil disobedience to individuals and for the
moment to one only, they can precipitate a crisis
by making it a crime to listen to him or read any-
thing written by him. But I think and believe
that they do not want to invite any trouble,
though they hold themselves in readiness to cope
with every trouble that may face them.
I have discussed with Shri Vinoba various plans
$0 as to avoid all unnecessary friction or risks. The
idea is to make all action as strictly non-violent as
is humanly possible. One man s violence, veiled or
open, cannot go beyond a certain .limit, but within
that limit it would be effective. One man’s non-
violent action would be despised and ridiculed
by the non-believer in it. In truth, while the effect
of a given violent action can be reduced to mathe-
matical terms, that of non-violent action defies all
calculation and has been known to falsify many
that have been hazarded. How far I shall be able
to present an example of unadulterated non-violence
remains to be seen.
Who is Vinoba Bhave and why has he been
selected ? He is an undergraduate having left
college after my return to India in 1916. He is a
Sanskrit scholar. He joined the Ashram almost at
its inception. He was among the first members.
In order to better qualify himself he took one
year’s leave to prosecute further studies in Sanskrit.
And practically at the same hour at which he had
left the Ashram a year before he walked into it
without notice. I had forgotten that he was due
to arrive that day. He has taken part in every
menial activity of the Ashram from scavenging to
cooking. Though he has a marvellous memory
and is a student by nature, he has devoted the
largest part of his time to spinning in which he
has specialised as very few have. He believes in
universal spinning being the central activity which
will remove the poverty in the villages and put
life into their deadness. Being a born teacher he
has been of the utmost assistance to Ashadevi in
her development of the scheme of education
through handicrafts. ‘ Shri Vinoba has produced
a text-book taking spinning as the handicraft. It
is original in conception. He has made scoffers
realise that spinning is the handicraft par excellence
which lends itself to being effectively used for
basic education. He has revolutipnised takli-
spinning and drawn out its hitherto unknown
possibilities. For perfect spinning probably he
has no rival in* all India.
•He has abolished every trace of untouchability
from his heart. He believes in communal unity
with the same passion that I have. In order to
know the best mind of Islam he gave one year to
the study of the Quran in the original. He there-
fore learnt Arabic. He found this study necessary
for cultivating a living contact’ with the Muslims
living in his neighbourhood.
He has an army of disciples and workers who
Would rise to any sacrifice at his bidding. He is
responsible for producing .a young man who has
dedicated himself to the service of lepers. Though
an utter stranger to medicine this worker has by
singular devotion mastered the rdethod of treatment
of lepers and is now running several clinics for
their care. Hundreds owe their cure to his labours.
He has now published a handbook in Marathi
for the treatment of lepers. Vinoba was for years
Director of the Mahila Ashram in'^Wardha. His
devotion to the cause of Daridranafayan took him
first to a village near 'W'&.rdha, and now he has
gone still further and lives, in Pavriar,. five miles
from Wardha, from where he has ‘ established
contact with villagers through the disciples he
has trained. • , , .
He believes in the necessity o^ the political indc-.
pendence of tiidie. lie is an . accurate student of
history. But he believes that real , independence of
330
HAKIJAN
I October 20, 1940
the villagers is impossible without the constructive
programme of which khadi is the centre. He be-
lieves that the charkha is the most suitable outward
symbol of non-violence which has become an inte-
gral part of his life. He has taken an active part
in the previous satyagraha campaigns. He has never
been in the lime-light on the political platform.
With many co-workers he believes that silent con-
structive work with civil disobedience in the back-
ground is far more effective than the already heavily
crowded political platform. And he thoroughly
believes that non-violent resistance is impossible
without a heart belief in and practice of con-
structive work,
Vinoba is an out and out war resister. But he
respects equally with his own the conscience of
those who, whilst not being out and out war
resisters, have yet strong conscientious objection to
participation in the present war. Though Vinoba
represents both the types I may want to select
another who will represent only one type, namely
conscientious objection to participation in the
present war.
It was necessary to introduce Vinoba at length
to the public in order to justify my choice. This
will perhaps be the last civil disobedience struggle
which I shall have conducted. Naturally I would
want it to be as flawless as it can be. Moreover
the Congress has declared that it will avoid all
avoidable embarrassment to the Government con-
sistently with its own existence. For that reason
too I had to strive to produce the highest quality
irrespective of quantity.
But Vinoba must fail, as I must, if we do not
represent the Congress, let alone the whole nation.
And we shall certainly not represent either if they
do not give us full-hearted co-operation which is
ceaseless prosecution of the constructive programme.
It is not vocal co-operation that is required. It is
co-operation in work that is needed. The signs of
such co-operation will be phenomenal progress in
spinning, complete disappearance of untouchability,
and increasing friendliness between communities, and
an increasing sense of justice in every walk of life.
Unless rock bottom justice and equality pervade
society surely there is no non-violent atmosphere.
Above all, there should be no civil disobedience
but what is sanctioned by me. This is peremptory
obligation binding on every Congressman. If it is
d isregarded, there is no co-operation. The representa-
tive character belonging to Vinoba and me is then
challenged. And I can say with confidence that, if
the full-hearted co-operation I want is forthcoming,
not only, will the issue of freedom of speech be
decided -in our favour but we shall have gone
very near Independence. Let those who will, take
me at my word. They will have lost nothing and
will -find that they had contributed greatly to the
movement of freedom through truthful and non-
violent means.
Let me repeat the issue. On the surface it is
incredibly narrow — the right to preach against
war as war [or participation in the present war.
"mth are matters of conscience for those who hold
either view. Both are substantial rights. Their
exercise can do no harm to the British if their
pretension that to all intents and purposes India is
an independent country is at all true. If India is
very much a dependency in fact as it is in law,
whatever the British get from India can never be
regarded as voluntary, it must be regarded as
impressed. This battle of life and death cannot be
won by impressed levies, however large. They
may win if they have the moral backing of an
India truly regarded as free. Non-violent Congress
cannot wish ill to Britain. Nor can it help her
through arms since it seeks to gain her own free-
dom not through arms but through unadulterated
non-violence. And the Congress vanishes if, at the
crucial moment, it suppresses itself for fear of
consequences or otherwise by ceasing to preach
non-violence through non-violent means. So when
wc probe the issue deep enough we discover that
it is a matter of life and death for us. If we
vindicate that right, all is well with us. If we do ■
not, all is lost. We cannot then win Swaraj
through non-violent means.
I know that India has not one mind. There
is a part of India that is war-minded and will
learn the art of war through helping the British,
The Congress has no desire, therefore, to sur-
round ammunition factories or barracks and prevent
people from doing what they like. We want to
tell the people of India that, if they will win
Swaraj through non-violent means, they may not
co-operate militarily with Britain in the prosecution
of the war.
This right of preaching against participation in
war is being denied to us, and we have to fight
against the denial. Therefore while that right
will be exercised only by those whom I may select
for the purpose, all the other activities of the
Congress will continue as before unless the
Government interfere with them.
A question has been asked why, if I attach so-
much importance to quality, I do not offer civil
resistance myself. I have already said that unlike
as on previous occasions I do not wish to do so
for the very good reason that my imprisonment
is likely to cause greater embarrassment to the
authorities than anything else the Congress
can do. I want also to remain outside to cope
with any contingency that may arise. My going,
to jail may be interpreted as a general invi-
tation to all Congressmen to follow suit. They
will not easily distinguish between my act and,
speech. Lastly, I do not know how things will
shape. I myself do not know the next step. I do
not know the Government plan. I am a man of
faith. My reliance is solely on God. One step is.
enough for me. The next He will make clear to
me when the time for it comes. And who knows
that I shall not be an instrument for bringing
about peace not only between Britain and India
but also between the warring nations of the Earth..
This last wish will not be taken for vanity by
those who believe that my faith is not a sharoi
but a reality greater than the fact that I am
penning these lines. Sevagram, 15-10-40
October 20, 1940 ]
WAR RESISTEES
Political Conscience
In the very first issue of Harijan this year I
referred to two cases of “ political pacifists ” which
had come up before the Appellate Tribunal for
conscientious objectors. Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, the
chairman of the tribunal, contended that the law
could not give protection to any but those who
belonged to the category of the “ honest, conscien-
tious pacifist, that is to say, the man who objects
to war as a thing evil in itself. That was the in-
tention of the statute, not to protect every form
of conscientious objection.” Mr. Fenner Brock way,
who appeared for the objectors, relied on the
statements of the Prime Minister and Labour Mini-
ster in the House of Commons on the implications
■of the statute. The term “conscientious objector”
was not defined in the statute, but the Prime
Minister had said that the Act was meant to
exclude “ only shirkers ”, and the Labour Minister
had said that “ Conscientious objection is not
defined in the Act, and local tribunals have to use
their own judgment in deciding whether an appli-
cation, on whatever ground it is based, is or is not
of a conscientious nature.” In reply to a question :
“ Can the Minister say that he agrees that this
House, in giving the right to conscientious objectors,
meant to do so on all those grounds — ethical and
political?” the Minister replied: “That is still
the idea.” Mr. Fenner Brockway was obviously on
very strong ground when he relied on these
statements, and contended : “ The pacifist’s supreme
loyalty is to his conception of God or of the
universe. The socialist’s supreme loyalty is to the
workers of all lands with whom he feels a unity,
equivalent to the unity which a patriot feels with
his nation. To a political objector it would be
morally wrong to kill his fellow-workers in the
interests of the possessing class. It is a matter of
conscience to him no less than to the pacifist.”
The question which then had only an academic
importance has now a live importance, inasmuch
as the Government, if they will honestly face the
issue, have to dispassionately consider the case of
the Congress. The Labour Minister, as I have
shown above, said that the law in England protect-
ed both the objectors -the ethical and the poli-
tical. In India the case for the political objector
is infinitely stronger. The British political objector
has objection to the war policy of his own
Government, a Government which, legally speak-
ing, he has been responsible for having brought
into being. The political objector here is
opposed to the present war in that it has been
imposed on the country by a Government which
owes no responsibility to it. In fact the term
political objector is rather inappropriate to the
objectors hero, for it is as much a matter of
conscience to have no part in killing as to have
no part in killing which is thrust upon one
against' one’s will. It is even possible that the
intensity of the conscientious objection in the
latter case may be very much greater than in the
former. As a matter of fact all objectors in India
HARIJAN 331
are conscientious objectors; only the “ethical”
ones have a double objection.
Dr. Dadoo
News has come from South Africa of the im-
prisonment, under the Emergency Regulations, of
Dr. Y. M. Dadoo, for publishing a statement cal-
culated “to incite a section of the public — non-
Europeans — to resist or oppose the Government
on a measure relating to the state of emergency as
a result of the war”, the measure being the
recruiting of members of the public for the
Army. This is the statement issued by Dr. Dadoo:
An Appeal to All Non-European People of
South Africa
“ You are being asked to support the war for Free-
dom, Justice, and Democracy. Do you enjoy the fruits
of Freedom, Justice and Democracy?
What you do enjoy is — Pass and Poll Tax laws^
segregation, white labour policy, low wages, high rents,
poverty, unemployment and vicious colour bars.
European recruits receive 3/6 per day. White inter-
nees receive 1/- per day ( Beer Allowance ). What ?
Yes ! You are expected to give your life for 1/- a day.
We answered the call in 1914-1918. What was the
reward? Misery, starvation and unemployment. This
time we must demand: The right to live as human
beings; the right to work in skilled trades; recognition
of African trade unions; the abolition of the white
labour policy; the abolition of all anti-colour legislation;
full rights of citizenship. Don*t support this war*
where the rich get richer and the poor get killed.”
The leaflet, thus, is not an implacable opposi-
tion to the war but is a demand for certain
elementary rights of democracy, before the non-
European community can respond to the call.
Even with regard to the war, it merely points out
certain glaring injustices to the non-European
participant.
The imprisonment of Dr. Dadoo is a triple wrong.
First, because his leaflet was no unconditional
opposition to the war. Secondly because it in no
way infringed the provision of the Emergency
Regulations of which the object was “to prevent
opposition to a particular measure of the
Government and not the Government’s war policy
as a whole.” Thirdly it is one more case of glar-
ing injustice to the Indians inasmuch as the
European community enjoys the freedom, thanks
to the neutrality party led by General Hertzog,
of opposing the war policty as a whole.
As a matter of fact, as Mr. Bloom, Counsel for
defence, pointed out the Europeans there do some-
thing much worse. He said: “If Europeans arc
allowed to go about the country preaching rebel-
lion and talking of future storm troopers, it
surely cannot be held that it is an oflEence for
non-Europeans to voice their desires for equal
rights, the abolition of poll tax, the right to vote
and to own property.”
But evidently the law in South Africa respects
the European and is no respecter of the non-
European. Indeed if this objection is raised, it is
alleged to arouse or aggravate feelings of hostility
against the Europeans!
'332
HAEIJAN
[ October 20, 1940
TIais ‘Democratic* Empire
Dr. Dadoo merely mentioned some of the wrongs
under which the non-Europeans in South Africa
were labouring. As it was, the Bishop of Johan-
nesburg was unconsciously supporting Dr. Dadoo
when within a few days after the action against
Dr. Dadoo he said in the course of a sermon:
“ Let us think of this issue as it affects our own
country. Do we in this country believe in the infinite
value of the individual ? Are our social and economic
arrangements designed to give each individual a real
opportunity of self-government ? Our policy is
based on fear, fear of economic competition, fear of
racial admixture. We talk of trusteeship. But if we
are trustees, -^ve are false to our trust. Neither for his
health, nor for his food, nor for the care and nurture
pf his children, do we make adequate provision.”
Very like Nazism
And the same issue of Indian Opinion as published
the Bishop’s sermon, .publishes from The Sunday
Times (South Africa) the report of a case in
which a European policeman and a South African
constable were let off with a fine of £ 50 and £ 25
.respectively ( 12 months being the period in
'which to pay the fine) for having caused the
'death of a bushman, “ by hitting him with a
sjambok and stick over the face and head and to
have kicked him or struck him with the spoke of
,a wheel as a result of which he sustained
broken ribs. It was also alleged that they tied
his hands above his head at 7-30 in the evening
and fastened them to a tree, and that every 15
minutes they threw water over him until 2 o’clock
the following morning. They were also accused of
burning him because they allowed him to remain
close to a fire when he was either so frozen that
he was unable to feel the burns or too powerless
to move. Crown evidence stated that the following
day Elias was forced to run 15 miles alongside the
police horse, during which time he fajnted three
times and coughed up blood. He was brought to
hospital on June 2 at Grootfontein in a hopeless
condition and died on June 9 of tetanus.”
The oflfence, let it be remembered, was committed
by policemen whose function it is to guard the
person and property of the citizens, and was there-
fore graver than the same offence if it had been
committed by anyone else. But £ 50, to be paid
within 12 months, is the price that a white police-
mm has had to pay for brutally causing the death
of, another- human being. But in a “democratic
Empire”, for which those belonging to the Empire
are called upon to fight, a dark-skinned bushman
is no human, being,, and his murder costs the
murderer nothing more than the death of a £50
worth dog, caused by accident, would have cost
him. The case is on a par wi^h that of the I.C.S.
magistrate, Alexander of Bareilly who imposed a
!sentence o£.w;hipping on a lad of 14 for shouting
objectionable slogans at recruits, and who execut-
ed the sentence personally in the court with his
hands, depriving the accused of all redress
Tby^ a court of appeal.
Sevagram, 16-10-40 . ' M. D. '
Uniouchability In Kotah
News comes from a worker in the Rajputana
Harijan Sevak Sangh that the Maharaja Saheb of
Kotah has recently rescinded a section of a law
relating to Harijans. The writer says this section
was never used, so far as he knows, until recently
when the magistrate of Kotah fined a sweeper for
keeping buffaloes. The sweeper appealed, and His
Highness thought it undesirable to keep such a
section on the statute book. The fine was remitted.
The section says that no sweeper may keep a
cow or a buffalo, nor sacrifice buffaloes without
permission. No sweeper may on occasions of
marriage or mourning or any festival or festivity
use ghee for frying or take out a bridal proces-
sion through public streets.
The sweeper cannot be arrested without a war-
rant under this section. But a warrant may be
issued. It is a bailable offence, not compoundablc.
A fine up to Rs. 50 may be imposed. Any magis-
trate is entitled to try such cases.
It is a question whether to congratulate the
Maharaja for the removal of the atrocious prohi-
bitions against Harijans or to demand why he slept
over the atrocity for so long. It is said that such.
prohibitions are common to most States of Rajpu-
tana. If so, it is to be hoped that the States con-
cerned will follow the example of Kotah. May I
also suggest that the statute books of the States
should be purged of all indefensible restrictions
against Harijans?
Sevagram, 15-10-40 ■ A. K.* .
WORKING COMMITTEE’S
STATEMENT
The Working Committee issued the following
statement at Wardha on the 13th inst.:
The Working Committee met at the instance of
Mahatma Gandhi and listened to the account of
his talks with the Viceroy and the plan of cam-
paign in so far as he has been able to envisage it.
The Working Committee approve of what he has
done, and repeat the instructions given to Congress-
men and Congress Committees by the- A. 1. C. C.
at it last meeting in Bombay, that they should
give him the fullest possible co-operation in all
that he may require or expect them to do.
CONTENTS
PAGE
An Acceptable Sacrifice ... M. D. 325
The Liberty We Want ... M. D, 326
I
A British Endorsement ... M.' K. Gaudhi 328
Civil Disobedience ... M. K. Gandlii329'
War Resisters ... M. D. 331 ,
Working Committee’s
Statement ... 332
Notes :
Two Points of View ... M. K. G. 328
Untodchability in Kotah A. K. 332
\ ij^rinted and Published by Vithal Hari Barve at the Aryabhushan Press, 915/1 Fergusson College Road, Poona 4.
Subscription Rates — INLAND r pne year, Es. .4,; Six mon^s, E?. 8^8. FOREIGN : One year, Rs. 5-8 or, 8 sh..or 2 dollars
Reg. No. B. 3092
Editor : MAHADEV DESAI
VoL. VIII No. 37 ] POONA — SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1940 [ ONE ANNA
To the Reader
( E y m. K. )
You must have seen through my press notice that the publication of Harijait
and the other two weeklies had been suspended. In it, I had expressed the hope
that the suspension might be only for a week. But I see that the hope had no
real foundation. I shall miss my weekly calks with you, as I expect you too will
miss them. The value of those talks consisted in their being a faithful record of
my dc-:- 'cst thoughts. Such expression is impossible in a cramped atmosphere. As I
have no desire to offer civil disobedience, I cannot write freely. As the author of
satyagraha I cannot, consistently with my professions, suppress the vital part of myself
for the sake of being able to write on permissible subjects such as the constructive
programme. It would be like dealing with the trunk without the head. The whole
of the constructive programme is to me an expression of non-violence. I would be
denying myself if I could not preach non-violence. For that would be the meaning
of submission to the latest ordinance. The suspension must, therefore, continue while
the gagging lasts. It constitutes a satyagrahi’s respectful protest against the gag. Is not
satyagraha giving an ell when an inch is asked for by the wrong-doer, is it not
gj ving the cloak also when only the coat is demanded ? It may be asked why this
reversal of the ordinary process ? The ordinary process is based on violence. If my
life were regulated by violence in the last resort, I would refuse to give an inch
lest an ell might be asked for. I would be a fool if I did otherwise. But if my
life is regulated by non-violence, I should be prepared to and actually give an ell
when an inch is asked for. By so doing I produce on the usurper a strange and
even pleasurable sensation. He would also be confounded and would not know what
to do with me. So much for the ‘enemy’. I, having made up my mind to surrender
every non-essential, gain greater strength than ever before to die for the defence
and preservation of what I hold to be essential. I was therefore wrongly accused
b 5 '’ my critics of having advised cowardly surrender to Nazism by Englishmen when
I suggested that they should lay down external arms, let the Nazis overrun Britain
if they dare, but develop internal strength to refuse to sell themselves to the Nazis.
Full surrender of non-essentials is a condition precedent to accession of internal strength
to defend the essential by dying.
But I am not writing this to convert the English to my view. I am writing
this to suggest to you that my surrender to the framers of the gagging ordinance is
an object-lesson to you, the Reader, in satyagraha. If you will quietly work out in
your own life the implications of the lesson, you will then not need the weekly
aid from the written word in Harijan. Even without your weekly Harijan you will
know how I shall myself work out the full implications of giving an ell when an inch
is wanted. A correspondent pleads with me that on no account should I suspend
Harijan, for he says his non-violence is sustained by the weekly food he gets
therefrom. If he has really done so, then this self-imposed restraint should teach
him more than a vapid continuation of weekly Harijan,
One word as to the practical question. You are a subscriber to one of the
weeklies. 1 do not know when, if ever, they will be resumed. You are entitled to
334 HAEIJAN [ NOVEMBER 10, 1940
the return of the unused balance of your subscription. On receipt of a post card
from you to the Manager Harijan, Poona for a refund, a money order for it will be
sent to you. Those who do not ask for a refund will have their paper sent to them if
it is resumed. If it is not, the unused balance will be spent in covering any loss that
may be caused in winding up. And then the balance, if any, will be sent to the
Harijan Sevak Sangh for use in the service of Harijans. If Harija?i is not resumed
within six months, it will be deemed to have been finally wound up. Meanwhile
good-bye.
Sevagram, 31-10-40
WHY SUSPENSION
Gandhiji issued the following statement to the
press on 24th October :
On the 18th inst. the Editor of Harijan
received the following notice from the District
Magistrate’s office, Poona :
“ I am directed by Government to advise you that no
account of incidents leading up to satyagraha by Vinoba
Bhave and no report of his speeches or any subsequent
developments should be published without previous
reference to the Chief Press Adviser, Delhi.
I would like to bring to your notice that this is in
your own interest to avoid prosecution under rule 38
of the Defence of India Rules.”
Thereupon I entered into correspondence with
H. E. the Viceroy. Correspondence is still going
on. But it is necessary for me to take a decision
today for, if I did not, there may be waste of
public money. In view of the reply hitherto
received I have no course left open but to suspend
publication of Harijan, Harijanbandhu and Harijan-
sevak. I cannot function freely if I have to send
to the Press Adviser at New Delhi every line I
write about satyagraha. It is true that the notice
is only advisory, and that therefore I am not
bound to act up to it. But the consequence of
disregard of advice is also stated in the notice. I
have no desire to risk a prosecution against the
Editors. The three weeklies have been conducted
in the interest of truth and therefore of all parties
concerned. But I cannot serve that interest if the
editing has to be done under threat of prosecution.
Liberty of the Press is a dear privilege, apart from
the advisability or otherwise of civil disobedience.
The Government have shown their intention
clearly by the prosecution of Shri Vinoba Bhave.
I have no complaint to make against the pro-
secution. It was an inevitable result of the
Defence of India Rules. But the hberty of the
Press stands on a different footing. I am unable
to reconcile myself to the notice which, although
in the nature of advice, is in reality an order
whose infringement will carry its own consequence.
I am sorry to have to disappoint the numerous
readers of the three weeklies. Next week I shall
be able to let the public know whether it is to
be merely a suspension or an indefinite stopping
of the three weeklies. I shall still hope that it
will be merely a suspension and that my fear will
prove to be groundless. But should it prove other-
wise, I may inform the public that satyagraha is
independent of press advertisement. If it is real,
it carries with it its own momentum; and I believe
the present satyagraha to be very real. It will go
on. I will not be provoked into any hasty action.
I am still not ready with the next move. But as
I have said in my previous statement, every act
of civil disobedience is complete in itself. This
press notice shows how effective it has been. Every
act of repression adds strength to the reality.
Satyagraha thrives on repression till at last
the repressor is tired of it and the object of
satyagraha is gained. Whether, therefore, I take
the next step or not and when I take it is a
matter of no consequence to the public. Let
those who sympathise with it follow implicitly
the instructions I have issued. I believe, and my
belief has been tested repeatedly, that a
thought deliberately thought and controlled is a
power greater than speech or writing and any day
greater than steam which is husbanded and con-
trolled. We see the latter every day carrying
incredible weights even across steep precipices.
Thought power overcomes much greater obstacles
and easily carries greater weights. But let me give
a practical hint to the non-believer in the power
of thought husbanded and controlled. Let every-
one become his own walking newspaper and carry
the good news from mouth to mouth. This does
not mean what boys used to do in the past,
viz. trumpeting about of bits of news. The idea
here is of my telling my neighbour what I have
authentically heard. This no Government can
overtake or suppress. It is the cheapest newspaper
yet devised, and it defies the wit of Government,
however clever it may be. Let these walking
newspapers be sure of the news they give. They
should not indulge in any idle gossip. They should
make sure of the source of information, and they
will find that the public gets all the information
that they need without opening their morning
newspaper which, they should know, will coirtain
garbled, one-sided information and therefore not
worth the trouble of reading. For it may be that
even the public statements such as I am now
issuing may also be stopped. It is the condition
of life under an autocratic Government, whether
foreign or indigenous.
OLD ISSUES
Issue of Vols. I to VIII of Harijan, with certain
exceptions, can be had from us for 3 As. per copy
(including postage).
Manager
4. Education
M. K. Gandhi 21
28
29, 49, 159, 193, 283
What I Saw in Santinikctan ...
Clear Injustice
Question Box ,,
Acharya Kripjilani’s Inaugural
Address
The Basic Education Court ...
Sevagram Khadi Yatra
Basic Education
Favouritism
Missionary Education in Assam
Adult Literacy
A Worthy Educational Effort
Spinning -and Character
■ One Step Forward ’
Adult Education through
Handicrafts I-II
A Praiseworthy Endeavour ...
A Christian Student’s Complaint
5. Removal of Untouchability and Service
of Harijans
A Curious Situation ... M. K. Gandhi
Harijan Sevak Sangh ... A. V. Thakkar
Scholarships for Harijan Girls ... „
Harijan Work in Indore ... A. K.
67
75
79
130
A. K.
S. N.
Ashadevi
M. K. Gandhi 131
166
173
„ 222
231
250
Pyarclal 251, 263
A. K. 286
M. K. Gandhi 316
D
39
75
77
M. K. Gandhi 89, 93, 137, 159, 217
Question Box
•Commendable
Curse of Untouchability ... M.
Untouchability
Comilla Municipality and Harijans
Harijans of Garhwal
A Walking Tour
Caste Hindu Marries Harijan Girl
The Journey Back
Titbits
[iidorc State aud Flarijans
M. D.
K. Gandhi
143
149
153
154
165
166
173
226
andhi Scholarships
... Pyarelal
... A. V. Thakkar 230
... M. K. Gandhi 236
... Shyainlal
... M. K. Gandhi
A. K.
258
322
324
332
Fa^^ing in Satyagraha
A Righteous Fast
Untouchability in Kotah
6, Communal Unity
Communal Decision M. K. Gandhi 9
Question Box: „ 9, 29, 41, 49, 101, 109, 123, 129,
137, 159, 183, 193, 234
My Advice to Noakhali Hindus
The Old Game
My Answer to Qaid-c-Azam
A Baffling Situation
All on Trial
My Position
The Hand of the Devil ?
An English Suggestion
Wanton Destruction in Bidar
Hindu Muslim Tangle
Occasional Notes
Occasional Notes
God-speed
Non-rcsistance
Bidar
Curse of Untouchability
Hindu-Muslim
The Eclipse of Faith — ^II
Wliat the Masnavi Says
Is Islam Inspired?
The Biswa Affair
Pyarelal
M. K. Gandhi
21
62
65
76
86
92
M. D. 112
M. K. Gandhi 115
115
117
Pyarelal 119
M. D. 133
141
M. K. Gandhi 144
149
349
156
M. D. 174
M. K. Gandhi 183
207
242
Biswa Miscarriage Again
Economic Ruin in Sindh
Seven Days in Bombay
I Wonder
Sindh Hindus
276
284
M. D. 289
... M. K. Gandhi 297
309
7. Village Industries
Adulteration of Ghee ... M. K. Gandhi d
Skimmed Milk ... „ 23
Gandhi Seva Sangh-III ... M. D. 42
What Big Employers Can Do M, K. Gandhi 107
The Beneficent Bee — V. G. D. 152
Handmade Paper ... M. K. Gandhi 153
Rural Humanity ... M. Subedar 170
More about Handicrafts ... Pyarelal 202
Non-violent Crafts ... M. D. 271
Handicrafts in America ... A. K. 27 d
Town-dwellers aad village
Industries ... G. Naik 286
8. Village Reconstruction
Village Reconstruction in the
South ... A. K. 259
Debt Bondage of a Hill Tribe... M. K. Gandhi 264
Sevagram Notes ... M. D. 281
Kathiawad Famine Work G. Ramachandran 287
9- Khadi
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi oO,
73, 145, 159, 176, 217, 268. 276, 283
Gandhi Seva Sangh I-III ... M. D. 17, 25, 42
‘ Khadi Banks ’ ... M. K. Gandhi 48
Women and Voluntary
Endeavour — ^0
Raragarh ... M. D. 57
A Creditable Record ... C. S. 74
Khadi Can K. G. Mashruwala 77
Sevagram Khadi Yatra ... S. N. 79
Charkha — Swaraj — ’Ahimsa ... M. K. Gandhi 85
Spinning Wheel in China ... C. S. 91
What Big Employers Can Do... M. K. Gandhi 107
Example Better than Precept... M. D. 113
Khadi Work in Tamil Nad I-II C. S. 135, 138
Charkha v. Takli C. A. Aiyamuthu 138
A Feast for the Eyes ... M. D. 139
Gwalior and Khadi ... M. K. Gandhi 165
Non-violence and Khadi ... ,, 169
Spinning Competition in Ramgarh „ 171
The Eclipse of Faith — -II ... M. D. 174
Curious Objections K. G. Mashruwala 179
The Journey Back ... Pyarelal 226
Our Textile Wants K. G. Mashruwala 228
Spinning and Character ... M. K. Gandhi 231
For Khadi Workers ... ,, 237
Spinning Anniversary ... ,, 247
How to Universalise Khadi ? ... „ 285
One Aspect of the Cloth
Industry ... K. C. Gandhi 288
Khadi Patrikas ... M. K. Gandhi 295
Khadi Week ... „ 298
10 Relations of the Sexes
What Is Womans Role ... M. K. Gandhi 12
Question Box ... 29, 41, 145, 159, 176
A Hideous Evil ... A. K. 135
1 1. Non-violence
Occasional Notes ... M. D, 2, 194, 309
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 7,
102, 129, 193, 215, 217, 234, 253, 268, 276, 283
Gandhi Seva Sangh — ^I ... M. D. 17
An Interlude at Santiniketan ... Pyarelal 3L
6
The London Assassination
An Insane Act
How to Evoke the Best
Charkha — Swaraj — Ahimsa
Two Questions from America
Of What Avial Is Non-violence ?
Non-violence and Khadi
How to Combat Hitlerism
Both Happy and Unhappy
Non-violence cum Non-
co-operation
Gandhiji Absolved
To Every Briton _ ...
About Working Committee's
Decision
Non-violence and Panic
What Led to the Decision
“A Cry in the Wilderness” V
The Delhi Resolution
Congress Membership and
Non-violence
’‘For He Had Great Possessions”
Some Misconceptions
Unrepentant
Khansaheb’s Ahimsa
The Best Field for Ahimsa
The Correspondence
Open Letter
Not Quite So Bad
Two Just Complaints
The Journey Back
Impossible
There Is Violence in It
A Testimony from England
A Hot Gospeller
Woman’s Role
War — a Stage Long Outgrown
What of die “Weak Majority” ?
Hopeful
Drawbacks of Non-violence K
M. K. Gandhi 56
56
72
85
9j
114
169
172
180
K. N. Katju 18]
182
M. K. Gandhi 185
M.
M. D.
K. Gandhi
186
192
196
200
201
203
206
209
A. K.
M. D.
... M. K. Gandhi 212
213
214
Gandhi-Linlithgow 214
... R. T. Templin 220
... M. K. Gandhi 222
223
... Pyarelal
... M. K. Gandhi
226
228
229
231
232
236
237
241
241
Mashruvvala 242
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi
M
M
M. D.
K. Gandhi
M. K. Gandhi 244
245
246
249
250
255
259
M. D. 261, 266
K. Gandhi 265
Is Non-violence Impossible ? ,
The Test of Non-violence
The Live Issue
Moral Support
A Convincing Argument
Nazism in Its Nakedness
Asoka and Non-violence
An Interesting Discourse I-II .
My Idea of a Police Force
Non-violence of the Brave
Peaceful Methods ?
Ahimsa in Daily Life
How to Quench It ?
“ A Seeker’s ” Question
Congress Ahimsa
Non-violence during Riots
Not Quite New
Seven Days in Bombay
A. I. C. C. Resolution
An American’s Questions
Some Criticism Answered
Gandhiji’s Speech at the A. 1.
Sikhs and the Sword
Correspondence
Tarasingh-M. K. Gandhi
Interesting Parallel ... M. K. Gandhi 311
Viceroy — Gandhi Correspondence 313
Physical Training and Ahimsa M. K. Gandhi 318
A British Endorsement ... „ 328
War Resisters ... M, D. 331
1 2 , Prohibition
A Bengal Grievance ... V. G. D. 16
13. Hindustani
Question Box ... M. K. Gandhi 41
Rashtrabhasha Adhyapan
M. D.
M. K. Gandhi
M. K. Gandhi
M. D.
!! M. D.
.. M. K. Gandhi
C C
.. M. k. Gandhi
268
272
273
277
280
285
285
286
289
296
298
302
303
306
307
Mandir, Wardha
Two Just Complaints
Old Mind v. Old Age
14.
Question Box
Planters’ Paradise
... S. Agrawal 95
... M. K. Gandhi 223
... V. Bhave 287
Labour
... M. K. Gandbi 93
... G. Bardoioi 162
15. Ofeiiuarios
The Deenabandhu ... M. D. 81
A True Friend of the Poor ... M. K. Gandhi 84
Andrews’ Legacy ... ,, 84
A Humble Tribute A. K. 87
C. F. A. — the Man ... Pyarelal 98
Andrews’ Influence ... M. K. Gandhi 144
Tribute from South Afria ... ,, 165
Another Tribute ... 173
The Late Changanacherry Pillai ,, 207
16. Personal — by and about Gandhiji
Non-resistance ... M. K. Gandhi 144
Please Spare Me ... ,, 165
Question Box ... 253
Thanks ... 321
Fasting in Satyagraha ... 322
17. Economics — General
In the V/ake of Mechanisation I-IV C. S. 102,117
The Edipse of Faith-I ... M. D. 167*
The Only Cure ... ,,, 177
Equal Distribution ... M. K. Gandhi 269'
1 8, Miscellaneous
M. D. 6
Gandhi 7, 73, 159,
M. L\ 17, 25
M. K. Gandhi 20
28
34
Rediscovering Religion — 11
Question Box M. K.
Gandhi Seva Sangh I-lI
The Right Step
Segaon 13ccomes Sevagram
The Santiniketan Pilgrimage ...
A Visit to Deenabandhu
A Very Useful Publication
Occasional Notes
An Unjudicial Dictum
Our Castes
Deenabandhu Memorial
M. K. Gandhi and Othccs
Pyarci \[
M. I<:'’G.indhi
M. D.
M. K. C;andhi
M. D.
Andrews Memorial
Unworthy of Wardha !
Duty of Indians Overseas
A Cry from South Orissa
“ Sandhya Meditations ”
Copyright
A Valid Complaint
On the Road to Simla
‘ Copyright ’
Servants of India Society
A Hot Gospeller
Is it Proper?
Improper Use
Andrews Memorial Fund
Andrews Memorial
Disgraceful If True
Illegal Levy ?
Australian Soldiers
Andrews Memorial Fund
To the Reader
Why Suspension
40
53
54
116
122
150
M. K. Giadh iiuS
M. D, L72
M. K. Gandhi 172
A. V. Tiaikkar 131
M. D. V58
M. K. Gandhi 164
189
1S9
193
217
232
236
„ 264
267
270
M. K. Gandhi 312
316
321
326
M, K. Gandhi 335
334
Pyarelal
M. K. Gandhi
m^’d.
M. K. Gandhi
Issues of Harijan liitherto published can be had at
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Home and Village Doctor
By Satish Chandra Das^tipta 1440 pages, 18
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